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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased 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 responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

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

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married 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 frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.