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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 husband – and received his jail term increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. 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 Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer 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 marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the original case.