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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised 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”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.