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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

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

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate 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 invited him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

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: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.