🔗 Share this article

A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured personally and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the room, his conduct had been acceptable.

The jury in the higher court was shown visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters assembled to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.”

State's Argument

The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is possibly in the course of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your case.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence 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 Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When he was 17 he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused.

He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the stress of the original case.