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A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited 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 proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan 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 concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the original case.