🔗 Share this article French Appeal Tribunal Raises Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his incarceration period extended to 10 years. Higher Court Case Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes. A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019. The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to rape his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state. “We hope the court will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not given by another,” declared the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained personally and not via a representative from a spouse.” Background Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of almost a decade of their marriage. Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a penalty raised on Thursday to 10 years. The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any responsibility”. Evidence Presented Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard. Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.” The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his actions had been permissible. The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a deep sleep, while a grinning Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not consented. Accused's Testimony The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was violation. 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 brought him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he persuaded me.” Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that individual.” Pelicot's Words The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you raped me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. How could I have give you agreement? At no time.” Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.” State's Argument Sie, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take accountability showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the societal understanding spurred by the publication of your ordeal.” Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.” Sie addressed the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are upholding.” Defendant's Background Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his parent was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused. He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his challenging existence. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.