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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an digital platform called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the jury will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and soliciting numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The proceedings became a focus point for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that lady.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.