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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period 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 higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 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.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is perhaps in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread 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 society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.