🔗 Share this article France's Appeal Tribunal Increases Sentence for Gisèle Pelicot Rapist A defendant was declared guilty on appeal of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was sedated by her then-husband – and has had his jail term increased to 10 years. Retrial Proceedings The defendant, forty-four, an out-of-work construction worker, who had appealed his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a new trial this week at the appeals court in Nîmes. A panel of five men and four women, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her residence in Provence in the early hours of 29 June 2019. The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, Dominique Pelicot, in an online chatroom titled “unbeknownst to her”, where Pelicot was looking for men to visit his house to rape his wife once he had rendered her unconscious into a deep sleep. “We hope the panel will affirm that in this nation, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not delegated,” said Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Permission is secured directly and not by proxy from a husband.” Case History The ex-husband, one of the worst sexual predators in recent French history, was sentenced to two decades in prison last year for sedating his spouse and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union. Numerous other individuals were found culpable in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his sentence. He was first handed a term to 9 years in prison, a penalty increased on Thursday to ten years. The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”. Courtroom Details The defendant had initially sent the husband sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his residence in the region to assault Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the court heard. The ex-husband, who was brought from isolation in prison to briefly provide testimony at the appeal trial, informed the court that the accused had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I want someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her knowledge.” The proceedings became a focus point for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to assert he was not guilty and had not engaged in violation, arguing that because the victim's husband had invited him into the room, his actions had been justifiable. The panel in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of the victim's limp body, comatose and snoring in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan performed assault multiple times over a duration of what investigators stated was three and a half hours. The presiding judge said she had been at peril of death by choking. The prosecution said there was no doubt that she had been unconscious and had not consented. Accused's Testimony Dogan stated to the court the recordings were simply “sexual encounters” and denied it was assault. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not rape. He told the court: “I never raped.” He said the victim's husband had allowed him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was deceived by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused stated to the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.” Asked if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that individual.” Survivor's Statement The survivor, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by onlookers present to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an incapacitated woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.” Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an global icon after she gave up her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.” State's Argument Sie, turning to Gisèle Pelicot in court, said Dogan’s unwillingness to take accountability showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the course of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the publication of your situation.” Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still widespread in society as part of “outdated” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “Now we must change rape culture to a ethos of permission.” Sie said to the defendant: “While you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an entire disturbing cultural framework that you are upholding.” Defendant's Background Dogan was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 moved to France, where his father worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was abusive and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When he was seventeen he was apprehended by police for selling narcotics and his father kicked him out the family house. He was incarcerated in prison for narcotics offenses in his young adulthood and had worked as a construction worker but had undergone periods of living on the streets. He was married and had a child with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his spouse worked in a institution's dining hall. The testimony revealed his wife did not know he had repeated intimate relations outside their marriage. His legal team said this was his strategy for managing with his stressful life. The defendant had stated to a court psychologist that annually he engaged in commercial sex on his special day. His attorneys stated to the court he had joint inflammation resulting from the pressure of the original case.