🔗 Share this article

A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent 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 undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.