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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust 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 lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a period of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.”

Victim's Response

The victim, 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 illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor 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: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of 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 stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the original case.