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An individual has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his jail term extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the jury will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his sentence. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness brought by the revelation of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the original case.