🔗 Share this article France's Higher Tribunal Increases Jail Time for Gisèle Pelicot Assailant A defendant has been found guilty on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her husband – and has had his jail term extended to a decade. Appeal Trial Husamettin Dogan, 44, an out-of-work construction worker, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a appeal hearing this week at the higher court in Nîmes. A panel of nine jurors, joined by three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of raping the victim in her home in southern France in the morning of June 29, 2019. The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, made contact with the victim's spouse, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “without her consent”, where the husband was recruiting men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a unconscious state. We expect the jury will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also rights of women – that agreement is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is received personally and not via a representative from a husband.” Background The husband, among the most severe sexual predators in recent French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for sedating his then wife and bringing in numerous individuals to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of many years of their union. Fifty other men were found convicted in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to 9 years in prison, a sentence raised on Thursday to 10 years. The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve 12 years, because he “completely denies to take any blame”. Evidence Presented The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was leaving, the evidence indicated. The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the hearing, stated to the court that the accused had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.” The courtroom became a central issue for a wider discussion on societal attitudes in society as Dogan continued to claim he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable. The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's unresponsive form, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling the perpetrator performed assault multiple times over a duration of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at danger of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented. Accused's Testimony Dogan informed the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was rape. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I wanted to stop,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he reassured me.” Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I did not intend to injure that woman.” Pelicot's Words The survivor, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to back her, said to Dogan in court: “You do not grasp. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It’s a crime to rape an unaware woman. At what point did I give you permission? At no time.” Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she relinquished her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “Guilt ought to transfer.” Prosecutor's Remarks Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s failure to take responsibility showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, possibly driven by the collective awareness spurred by the exposure of your situation.” Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still prevalent in society as part of “archaic” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a culture of consent.” The prosecutor told the defendant: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole unpleasant societal structure that you are supporting.” Personal History The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The court heard that his parent was abusive and that the defendant began smoking cannabis aged ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by authorities for drug trafficking and his parent forced him to leave of home. He was incarcerated in prison for drug dealing in his young adulthood and had worked as a laborer but had undergone periods of living on the streets. He was married and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a school canteen. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had frequent intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his difficult circumstances. The defendant had informed a evaluator that each year he engaged in commercial sex on his birthday. His attorneys told the court he had a medical condition triggered by the stress of the original case.