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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his incarceration period raised to a decade.

Appeal Trial

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

A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to challenge his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to ten years.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the evidence indicated.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

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

The panel in the higher court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.”

Survivor's Statement

The survivor, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.”

Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire sordid cultural framework that you are supporting.”

Biographical Details

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.