🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced 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 accountability”.

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.