🔗 Share this article French Appeal Tribunal Increases Prison Term for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant A man was convicted on higher court review of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to ten years. Appeal Trial Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, experienced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes. A jury of five men and four women, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in the south of France in the morning of 29 June 2019. The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife once he had sedated her into a deep sleep. We expect the court will declare that in this nation, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is personal, not transferred,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured personally and not through someone else from a spouse.” Background The ex-husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for drugging his then wife and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their marriage. Dozens of additional defendants were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his conviction. He was first given a sentence to nine years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to a decade. The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”. Courtroom Details The defendant had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his town in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard. The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, told the court that Dogan had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he said to men by phone: “I seek someone to violate my wife after I’ve put her to sleep without her knowledge.” The trial became a central issue for a wider discussion on rape culture in society as Dogan continued to say he was blameless and had not committed rape, arguing that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been acceptable. The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a smiling the perpetrator committed rape on several occasions over a period of what investigators stated was several hours. The judge said she had been at peril of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not given permission. Dogan's Claims Dogan told the court the footage were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was rape. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.” Asked if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to injure that woman.” Victim's Response The victim, who was cheered upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to support her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to assault an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Never.” Gisèle Pelicot, 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.” Legal Commentary The prosecutor, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps motivated by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your situation.” Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “male domination”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.” The prosecutor addressed the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are upholding.” Defendant's Background The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of five moved to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for drug trafficking and his father evicted him the residence. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of being unhoused. He was married and had a child with Down’s syndrome, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a mental health expert that once a year he sought commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the pressure of the initial proceedings.