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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied 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 the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the first trial.