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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade 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 sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.