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A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to ten years.

Retrial Proceedings

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will affirm that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to 10 years.

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

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her consent.”

The trial became a key topic for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what police said was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that individual.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor 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: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor told Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole disturbing societal structure that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for selling narcotics 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 experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities beyond their union. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had told a evaluator that annually he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.