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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the original case.