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

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.