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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced 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 school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the first trial.