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

Higher Court Case

Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a spouse.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by supporters present to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the process of that, possibly motivated by the societal understanding brought by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.”

Biographical Details

The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a mental health expert that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His lawyers told the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the anxiety of the first trial.