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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his jail term raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable 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 ten years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.