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A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband 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 say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Context

The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is possibly in the course of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.