🔗 Share this article France's Higher Court Uphighers Prison Term for Gisele Pelicot Assailant A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his jail term raised to a decade. Appeal Trial Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes. A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her residence in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019. The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her knowledge”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had drugged her into a deep sleep. We expect the jury will declare that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is individual, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.” Background The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their union. Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was initially handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years. The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”. Courtroom Details Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed. The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek 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 rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was blameless and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable. The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed. Defendant's Statements The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan informed the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.” Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that woman.” Pelicot's Words The survivor, who was applauded upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.” The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.” State's Argument Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness resulting from the revelation of your situation.” The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.” The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are upholding.” Defendant's Background Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged ten. When he was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave of home. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness. He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His legal representatives informed the court he had arthritis resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.