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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

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

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the course of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the first trial.