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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the process of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.