🔗 Share this article

An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his jail term raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will say loud and clear that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a key topic for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the residence, his behavior had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to support her, told the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is possibly in the midst of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the first trial.