🔗 Share this article France's Higher Tribunal Uphighers Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Rapist A man was convicted on appeal of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his jail term increased to a decade. Retrial Proceedings Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes. A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her residence in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019. The court heard that the accused, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform named “without her consent”, where the husband was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state. We trust the panel will declare that in this society, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not given by another,” stated the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.” Case History The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their marriage. Dozens of additional defendants were found guilty in a notable trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to contest his conviction. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years. The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”. Testimony and Proof Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then traveled an hour from his village in Provence to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated. The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her consent.” The proceedings became a key topic for a wider discussion on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been permissible. The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The court official said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been incapacitated and had not agreed. Dogan's Claims The defendant informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and denied it was rape. 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 allowed him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I proceeded because he reassured me.” Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.” Victim's Response The survivor, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you consent? At no time.” The victim, 72, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.” Legal Commentary The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “The shame remains. The public is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding resulting from the publication of your situation.” Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a ethos of permission.” Sie told Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete sordid societal structure that you are endorsing.” Defendant's Background The accused was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of five relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began using drugs aged ten. When he was seventeen he was caught by police for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets. He was wed and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The court heard his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations beyond their union. His defence said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his birthday. His attorneys stated to the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the original case.