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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his jail term extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.