🔗 Share this article French Appeal Court Increases Jail Time for Gisele Pelicot Perpetrator A man was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisèle Pelicot after she was sedated by her husband – and received his incarceration period increased to ten years. Retrial Proceedings Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal. A jury of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the morning of 29 June 2019. The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, the husband, in an online chatroom named “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state. We trust the jury will declare that in this nation, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not via a representative from a spouse.” Case History The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their union. Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a high-profile trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was first sentenced to 9 years in prison, a penalty enhanced on Thursday to a decade. The chief prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any responsibility”. Testimony and Proof The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his village in the region to assault the victim, after informing his wife he was leaving, the court heard. The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to briefly give evidence at the hearing, told the court that the accused had known his wife had been “sedated” and he communicated 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 key topic for a larger conversation on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his behavior had been acceptable. The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was presented with visual proof of the victim's unconscious figure, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at peril of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not given permission. Accused's Testimony Dogan told the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and rejected it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I tried to halt,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he persuaded me.” Inquired if he wanted to make a last words to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that lady.” Survivor's Statement The victim, who was supported upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers gathered to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you admit you raped me? It is unlawful to rape an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.” The victim, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.” Legal Commentary Sie, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's unwillingness to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. Society is perhaps in the course of that, maybe motivated by the societal understanding resulting from the exposure of your situation.” Sie said the defendant's claims of non-guilt showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “It is imperative to change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.” The prosecutor said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an complete unpleasant societal structure that you are endorsing.” Personal History Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The evidence indicated that his father was aggressive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his father kicked him out of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a construction worker but had faced periods of living on the streets. He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a school canteen. The testimony revealed his spouse did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had told a court psychologist that once a year he sought paid sex on his special day. His legal representatives stated to the court he had arthritis resulting from the anxiety of the initial proceedings.