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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

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

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals 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 sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The 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 given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.