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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to challenge his sentence. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible.

The jury in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to injure that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you consent? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the process of that, possibly motivated by the collective awareness brought by the publication of your case.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a evaluator that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.