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A defendant was convicted 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 a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware 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 unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality 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 unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.