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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

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

We trust the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

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

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.