🔗 Share this article France's Higher Court Increases Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Rapist A man was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and received his jail term raised to a decade. Appeal Trial Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the Nîmes court of appeal. A jury of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the early hours of June 29, 2019. The evidence showed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to come to his home to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state. We trust the panel will affirm that in this nation, human rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” said the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Permission is obtained personally and not via a representative from a husband.” Case History The ex-husband, a notorious sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and soliciting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union. Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the only man to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to 10 years. The lead state prosecutor, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”. Courtroom Details The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed. The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.” The courtroom became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible. The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault repeatedly over a timeframe of what police said was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission. Accused's Testimony The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “sexual encounters” 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 the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.” Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.” Pelicot's Words Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.” The victim, 72, became an symbol of resistance after she relinquished her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.” State's Argument The prosecutor, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.” Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.” The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “While you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete disturbing social system that you are supporting.” Biographical Details Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets. He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a mental health expert that once a year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His legal representatives stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the original case.