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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten 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 verdict. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the process of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.