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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.