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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed 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 did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the original case.