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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.