🔗 Share this article France's Higher Tribunal Increases Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Assailant An individual was convicted on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade. Higher Court Case The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal. A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019. The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an internet forum named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was looking for men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state. We trust the jury will declare that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not through someone else from a spouse.” Case History Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his spouse and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage. Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to contest his verdict. He was initially sentenced to nine years in prison, a sentence enhanced on Thursday to ten years. The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”. Testimony and Proof The defendant had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard. The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.” The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the room, his actions had been justifiable. The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not agreed. Dogan's Claims Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.” Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.” Victim's Response Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.” Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.” Legal Commentary Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding brought by the publication of your ordeal.” Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.” The prosecutor said to the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are upholding.” Biographical Details The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was 17 he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent evicted him the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had experienced periods of homelessness. He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a evaluator that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the original case.