🔗 Share this article France's Appeal Court Uphighers Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Perpetrator A defendant was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and was given his jail term extended to ten years. Higher Court Case The defendant, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had contested his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal. A jury of four women and five men, accompanied by three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of raping the victim in her residence in Provence in the morning of June 29, 2019. The evidence showed 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 looking for men to come to his home to assault his wife after he had sedated her into a deep sleep. We expect the court will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that agreement is individual, not delegated,” declared Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Agreement is obtained directly and not by proxy from a spouse.” Case History Dominique Pelicot, a notorious sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to twenty years in prison last year for sedating his wife at the time and bringing in numerous individuals to rape her in her home in the Provence village of the village of Mazan over a duration of nearly ten years of their union. Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the sole individual to appeal against his sentence. He was first sentenced to nine years in prison, a punishment increased on Thursday to ten years. The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”. Evidence Presented Dogan had first sent the husband inappropriate pictures and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after informing his wife he was going out, the court heard. Pelicot, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily give evidence at the retrial, informed the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to abuse my wife after I’ve put her to sleep unbeknownst to her.” The courtroom became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was blameless and had not perpetrated assault, arguing that because the victim's husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his conduct had been permissible. The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a timeframe of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of death by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was no question that she had been unaware and had not given permission. Defendant's Statements Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was assault. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the house, and therefore it was OK. He said he was manipulated by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I proceeded because he convinced me.” Asked if he wanted to make a last words to the court, Dogan said: “I never wanted to harm that lady.” Survivor's Statement Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon leaving court each day by crowds present to stand with her, told Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an unconscious woman. When did I ever give you permission? Never.” Gisèle Pelicot, 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.” State's Argument Sie, speaking to the victim in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the course of that, perhaps driven by the societal understanding spurred by the exposure of your situation.” Sie said Dogan’s claims of innocence showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a society based on agreement.” Sie told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an complete unpleasant social system that you are endorsing.” Personal History Dogan was born in the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a caretaker. The court heard that his father was abusive and that Dogan began using drugs at the age of 10. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his father evicted him of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his early 20s and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets. He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated extramarital activities outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his way of coping with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that each year he sought transactional encounters on his special day. His legal representatives informed the court he had joint inflammation caused by the pressure of the original case.