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

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community 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 the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds present to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Never.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.