🔗 Share this article French Higher Court Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant A defendant has been found guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot following she was drugged unconscious by her spouse – and was given his prison sentence increased to ten years. Higher Court Case Husamettin Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes. A panel of nine jurors, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping Pelicot in her home in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019. The court heard that the accused, a family man, connected with Gisèle Pelicot’s then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an digital platform titled “without her knowledge”, where Pelicot was recruiting men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state. “We hope the jury will affirm that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that consent is individual, not given by another,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s attorney, her legal representative. “Consent is secured directly and not via a representative from a spouse.” Case History The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in dozens of men to rape her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of nearly ten years of their union. Dozens of additional defendants were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was initially sentenced to 9 years in prison, a sentence increased on Thursday to a decade. The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any responsibility”. Evidence Presented Dogan had initially sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated. The ex-husband, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to briefly testify at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “drugged” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.” The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to assert he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the residence, his actions had been acceptable. The panel in the higher court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, sedated and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator committed rape repeatedly over a duration of what police said was three and a half hours. The court official said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state prosecution said there was no question that she had been unconscious and had not agreed. Dogan's Claims Dogan stated to the court the footage were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He declared the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him to the residence, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I wanted to stop,” Dogan told the court. “I carried on because he convinced me.” Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to injure that individual.” Victim's Response Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds assembled to stand with her, addressed the defendant in court: “You haven’t understood. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unconscious woman. How could I have give you permission? Not once.” The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to anonymity in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.” Prosecutor's Remarks The prosecutor, turning to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. Society is maybe in the course of that, possibly propelled by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your situation.” The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how rape culture was still common 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 addressed the defendant: “As long as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are endorsing.” Biographical Details Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The evidence indicated that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began smoking cannabis aged 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for drug trafficking and his father kicked him out the family house. He served time in prison for narcotics offenses in his twenties and had worked as a laborer but had faced periods of being unhoused. He was married and had a son with a genetic condition, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The court heard his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His defence said this was his way of coping with his stressful life. Dogan had told a mental health expert that each year he looked for commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys informed the court he had a medical condition resulting from the pressure of the initial proceedings.