🔗 Share this article France's Appeal Tribunal Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant An individual was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence raised to a decade. Appeal Trial The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his first conviction last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal. A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019. The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an digital platform titled “without her consent”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep. “We hope the court will say loud and clear that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not via a representative from a husband.” Case History The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was sentenced to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and soliciting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union. Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was first given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years. The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any blame”. Courtroom Details Dogan had first sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed. The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.” The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible. The panel in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not consented. Defendant's Statements The defendant told the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan informed the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.” Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.” Survivor's Statement The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, said to the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When are you going to recognise you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. How could I have give you consent? Not once.” Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Shame must change sides.” State's Argument The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s refusal to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly propelled by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your case.” Sie said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.” Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.” Personal History The accused was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The evidence indicated that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father evicted him the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of being unhoused. He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.