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An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

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 court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the first trial.