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An individual has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his jail term increased to ten years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

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

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Never.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness 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 society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of five relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began using drugs aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father 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 experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.