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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, 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 deep sleep.

“We hope the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.