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A man was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his sentence. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

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

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you permission? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the pressure of the initial proceedings.