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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics 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 undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.