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A man was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.