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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

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

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication 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: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.