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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel 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, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.