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An individual was convicted on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is received directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness brought by the publication of your ordeal.”

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

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the anxiety of the original case.