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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

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 rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.