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A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.