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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must 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 woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the original case.