🔗 Share this article

A defendant was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her then-husband – and received his jail term extended to ten years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the higher court in Nîmes.

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

The court heard that Dogan, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an internet forum named “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a unconscious state.

We expect the jury will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” declared the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a husband.”

Case History

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage.

Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years.

The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”.

Testimony and Proof

The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed.

The ex-husband, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.”

The trial became a focus point for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable.

The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan informed the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.”

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

Pelicot's Words

The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, 72, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness spurred by the publication of your situation.”

The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.”

Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire disturbing societal structure that you are endorsing.”

Biographical Details

The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was violent and that the defendant began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had informed a court psychologist that annually he looked for paid sex on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.