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An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.