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A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period extended to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a deep sleep.

We trust the panel will declare that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Context

Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men 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.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to ten years.

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

Testimony and Proof

Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated.

The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The courtroom became a central issue for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault on several occasions over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.”

Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers present to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Prosecutor's Remarks

Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the process of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how societal tolerance was still common in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are endorsing.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of being unhoused.

He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought transactional encounters on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis triggered by the stress of the first trial.