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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had known 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 without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused 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 had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the first trial.