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An individual has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

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

A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We expect the panel will affirm that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.”

Background

The ex-husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade.

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

Courtroom Details

Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the appeal trial, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Legal Commentary

Sie, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his father forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the original case.