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A man has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “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 unconscious state.

“We hope the court will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town 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 appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

The defendant informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is illegal to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that annually he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the first trial.