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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, possibly driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the first trial.