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A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 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.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.