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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.