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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by crowds present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in 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 aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son 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 wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis caused by the anxiety of the original case.