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A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? 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: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is possibly in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker 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 spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the original case.