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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated 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 wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.