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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.