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A man has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood 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 consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the first trial.