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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the process of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing 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 child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the first trial.