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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to contest his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

Sie, turning to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is possibly in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still common 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.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.