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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher 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 timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers gathered to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.