🔗 Share this article French Appeal Court Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator A man has been found guilty on higher court review of sexually assaulting Gisèle Pelicot following she was sedated by her husband – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years. Appeal Trial Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, underwent a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes. A jury of five men and four women, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019. The testimony revealed that the accused, a family man, connected with the victim's then husband, the husband, in an digital platform named “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife once he had sedated her into a unconscious state. We expect the panel will declare that in this country, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not transferred,” stated the victim's lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is secured directly and not through someone else from a husband.” Case History The husband, a notorious sex offenders in modern French history, was given a prison term to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and soliciting dozens of men to sexually assault her in her home in the town of the village of Mazan over a duration of many years of their marriage. Fifty other men were found guilty in a high-profile trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years. The chief prosecutor, the prosecutor, had contended he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any accountability”. Testimony and Proof The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his village in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after telling his wife he was going out, the evidence indicated. The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I seek someone to assault my wife after I’ve sedated her without her knowledge.” The courtroom became a key topic for a broader debate on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to assert he was innocent and had not engaged in violation, stating that because the victim's husband had invited him into the bedroom, his actions had been permissible. The jury in the higher court was displayed recorded footage of the victim's unconscious figure, comatose and snoring in a comatose state, while a smiling the perpetrator engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what investigators stated was several hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The prosecution said there was absolute certainty that she had been incapacitated and had not given permission. Dogan's Claims Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.” Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to harm that lady.” Pelicot's Words The victim, who was supported upon leaving court each day by crowds present to back her, addressed the defendant in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you agreement? At no time.” The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she gave up her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.” Prosecutor's Remarks The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take responsibility showed that: “The shame remains. The public is perhaps in the course of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness resulting from the publication of your situation.” The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how rape culture was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a culture of consent.” Sie said to Dogan: “For as much as you deny it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete disturbing cultural framework that you are supporting.” Personal History Dogan was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his parent was aggressive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was apprehended by police for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave the residence. He served time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had experienced periods of living on the streets. He was married and had a son with Down’s syndrome, who he was the principal carer for, as his wife worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations beyond their union. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. Dogan had stated to a court psychologist that once a year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His attorneys told the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the stress of the original case.