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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. 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 permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the midst of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.