🔗 Share this article French Higher Tribunal Uphighers Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade. Appeal Trial Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes. A panel of four women and five men, joined by three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her bedroom in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019. The evidence showed that Dogan, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state. We expect the jury will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is secured personally and not via a representative from a husband.” Case History The husband, a notorious sexual predators in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the community of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union. Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to contest his conviction. He was initially given a sentence to nine years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to a decade. The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”. Testimony and Proof The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard. The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.” The courtroom became a focus point for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible. The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at danger of death by choking. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission. Defendant's Statements The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the house, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.” Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to hurt that woman.” Victim's Response The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to stand with her, said to Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to rape an unconscious woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.” The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.” Legal Commentary Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your case.” The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.” Sie addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, 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 relocated to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a building manager. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for dealing drugs and his father forced him to leave the family house. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of homelessness. He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had regular sexual encounters outside their union. His defence said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation caused by the anxiety of the first trial.