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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

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

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the first trial.