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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence raised to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty 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 Dogan, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, told the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that individual.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to support her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Never.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, maybe propelled by the public consciousness brought by the revelation of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a mental health expert that once a year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the original case.