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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 husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half 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 unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

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

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the original case.