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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.