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A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced 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 spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.