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A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his incarceration period increased to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the original case.