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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced 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 sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Context

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by choking. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you permission? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the course of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

The accused was originated from 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 parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the first trial.