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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his jail term extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period 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 single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.