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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced 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 educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.