🔗 Share this article France's Higher Court Increases Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Assailant A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to ten years. Retrial Proceedings The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the appeals court in Nîmes. A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019. The evidence showed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state. “We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.” Case History The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage. Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade. The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”. Evidence Presented Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the court heard. Pelicot, who was transported from isolation in prison to briefly testify at the retrial, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.” The trial became a focus point for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been justifiable. The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a period of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not agreed. Defendant's Statements The defendant informed the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.” Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.” Pelicot's Words The victim, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to back her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you consent? Not once.” The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.” State's Argument Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.” Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.” Sie told Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.” Defendant's Background The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for selling narcotics and his father forced him to leave of home. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of being unhoused. He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had told a mental health expert that annually he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had joint inflammation triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.