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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

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

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating 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 displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a mental health expert that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the original case.