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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture 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 conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, 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 regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the first trial.