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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term raised to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.