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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.