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A defendant has been found guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We trust the court will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to ten years.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed 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 rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the midst of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a court psychologist that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.