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A man was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to ten years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, connected with the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is received personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a span of nearly ten years of their union.

Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to 10 years.

The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been justifiable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, maybe propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular intimate relations outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the anxiety of the first trial.