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A man was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

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

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The ex-husband, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the first trial.