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An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware 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 unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.