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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the court will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.