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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim 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 the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to back her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly propelled by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated 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 married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.