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An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a married father, made contact with the victim's husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received directly and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to challenge his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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 Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault 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 assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was several hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. 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 OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Victim's Response

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the midst of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure 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 father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.