🔗 Share this article France's Higher Court Raises Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his prison sentence increased to a decade. Higher Court Case Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, underwent a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes. A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019. The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom titled “without her consent”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a unconscious state. “We hope the jury will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that permission is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Agreement is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.” Background The husband, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a span of many years of their marriage. Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to 10 years. The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”. Courtroom Details Dogan had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed. Pelicot, who was brought from segregation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.” The courtroom became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his actions had been acceptable. The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's unresponsive form, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what police said was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed. Defendant's Statements Dogan informed the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.” Inquired if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.” Pelicot's Words The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, told Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.” Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.” Legal Commentary Sie, addressing the victim in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the process of that, perhaps motivated by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your situation.” Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.” Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an entire sordid social system that you are supporting.” Personal History Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of being unhoused. He was wed and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a mental health expert that annually he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the anxiety of the original case.