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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse 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 marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping 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 the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.