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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, possibly driven by the public consciousness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.