🔗 Share this article France's Higher Court Increases Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Assailant A defendant was declared guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence increased to a decade. Appeal Trial Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, experienced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes. A panel of four women and five men, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in southern France in the early hours of 29 June 2019. The testimony revealed that Dogan, a family man, reached out to the victim's then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a comatose state. We expect the court will affirm that in this society, human rights are also rights of women – that permission is individual, not given by another,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is obtained directly and not through someone else from a spouse.” Context The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage. Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the only man to appeal against his sentence. He was originally handed a term to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years. The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”. Evidence Presented Dogan had first sent Dominique Pelicot graphic images and then driven an hour from his town in Provence to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was going out, the testimony revealed. The ex-husband, who was brought from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the hearing, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.” The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the residence, his behavior had been justifiable. The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a deep sleep, while a grinning the perpetrator performed assault repeatedly over a duration of what authorities reported was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been incapacitated and had not consented. Dogan's Claims The defendant stated to the court the footage were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He declared the court: “I am innocent of assault.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he persuaded me.” Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to hurt that lady.” Victim's Response Gisèle Pelicot, who was cheered upon departing the trial each day by supporters gathered to stand with her, addressed Dogan in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you violated me? It is unlawful to rape an incapacitated woman. At what point did I give you permission? Not once.” Gisèle Pelicot, seventy-two, became an international feminist hero after she gave up her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.” State's Argument The prosecutor, speaking to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is possibly in the course of that, perhaps driven by the public consciousness spurred by the exposure of your situation.” The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “It is imperative to change rape culture to a culture of consent.” Sie addressed Dogan: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid societal structure that you are supporting.” Personal History Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to the nation of France, where his parent worked as a caretaker. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that the defendant began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was 17 he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of homelessness. He was married and had a child with a genetic condition, who he was the principal carer for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had frequent extramarital activities beyond their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his challenging existence. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers stated to the court he had a medical condition resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.