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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to 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 individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the residence. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.