🔗 Share this article French Higher Tribunal Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator An individual was convicted on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and has had his prison sentence increased to ten years. Higher Court Case Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal. A panel of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019. The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's spouse, the husband, in an digital platform named “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state. We trust the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not delegated,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is obtained personally and not through someone else from a husband.” Background The ex-husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage. Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to contest his verdict. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment raised on Thursday to ten years. The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”. Evidence Presented The defendant had initially sent the husband graphic images and then driven an hour from his residence in Provence to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was stepping out, the court heard. The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.” The trial became a key topic for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the room, his behavior had been acceptable. The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, sedated and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling Dogan committed rape multiple times over a period of what police said was several hours. The court official said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not agreed. Defendant's Statements Dogan told the court the videos were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was rape. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, 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 carried on because he persuaded me.” Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I had no desire to injure that lady.” Survivor's Statement The survivor, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by supporters assembled to back her, addressed Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to rape an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you agreement? Not once.” The victim, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.” State's Argument The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, maybe driven by the societal understanding brought by the exposure of your case.” Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how rape culture was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “male domination”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.” The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “As long as you deny it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.” Personal History Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of five came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his father was abusive and that the defendant began consuming marijuana aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the family house. He spent time in prison for narcotics offenses in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of living on the streets. He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The court heard his spouse did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the initial proceedings.