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A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” 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 Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Victim's Response

The victim, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.