🔗 Share this article

An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.