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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.