🔗 Share this article

An individual was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

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

A panel of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape 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 personal, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town 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 Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

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

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 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 unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, maybe motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone 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 institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.