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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. 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,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, 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, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the original case.