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A man was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.