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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his jail term increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the first trial.