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A defendant was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told 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 assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.