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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

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

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.