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A man has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period increased to 10 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 higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the court will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan 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 without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared 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 influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.