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A defendant was convicted on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and has had his prison sentence raised to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

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

The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union.

Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to challenge his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been permissible.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by onlookers present to stand with her, told the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

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

State's Argument

The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the midst of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a evaluator that once a year he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.