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A defendant was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.