🔗 Share this article France's Higher Court Raises Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and received his jail term increased to a decade. Retrial Proceedings Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal. A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019. The testimony revealed that Dogan, a married father, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to visit his house to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state. “We hope the panel will declare that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.” Case History Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was given a prison term to twenty years in prison last year for drugging his spouse and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union. Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was initially handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years. The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any accountability”. Testimony and Proof Dogan had initially sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to assault the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed. The ex-husband, who was transported from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “drugged” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.” The proceedings became a key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not committed rape, stating that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable. The panel in the higher court was shown video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a timeframe of what police said was several hours. The judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission. Dogan's Claims The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not rape. He declared the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.” Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that individual.” Victim's Response Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you admit you violated me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you agreement? Not once.” The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.” State's Argument Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said Dogan’s failure to take blame showed that: “The shame remains. The community is possibly in the process of that, possibly motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your ordeal.” The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.” The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant cultural framework that you are supporting.” Defendant's Background The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of 10. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets. He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the pressure of the original case.