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A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in Provence in the early hours of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

“We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.”

Background

The husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating 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 span of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.”

The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the higher court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan committed rape on several occasions over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant stated to the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.”

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

Victim's Response

The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero 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 Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the process of that, maybe driven by the public consciousness spurred by the revelation of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his parent was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had faced 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 frequent sexual encounters outside their marriage. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.