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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

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

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a court psychologist that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.