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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and denied 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 allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, told 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 agreement? At no time.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated 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 using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.