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A man has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his incarceration period increased to 10 years.

Appeal Trial

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes.

A jury of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019.

The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep.

We trust the court will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not by proxy from a husband.”

Background

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years.

The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”.

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the court heard.

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

The trial became a central issue for a larger conversation on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that woman.”

Victim's Response

The victim, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds gathered to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

Gisèle Pelicot, 72, 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 the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The community is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.”

Sie told the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that once a year he looked for transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the first trial.