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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom 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 deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.