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An individual was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his incarceration period raised to ten years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the jury will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what authorities reported was several 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 incapacitated and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, maybe propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his father was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the original case.