🔗 Share this article

A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his jail term raised to 10 years.

Retrial Proceedings

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

A jury of nine jurors, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will affirm that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage.

Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's limp body, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan engaged in violation multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed.

Defendant's Statements

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, 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 reassured me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.”

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

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the exposure of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie addressed the defendant: “While you reject it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire unpleasant cultural framework that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When he was 17 he was caught by police for dealing drugs and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his spouse did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that each year he engaged in paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the original case.