🔗 Share this article France's Higher Court Raises Sentence for Gisele Pelicot Rapist An individual was declared guilty on retrial of raping Gisèle Pelicot following she was rendered comatose by her husband – and was given his prison sentence extended to a decade. Higher Court Case Dogan, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his initial guilty verdict last year, faced a retrial this week at the higher court in Nîmes. A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, convicted Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting the victim in her home in the south of France in the morning of June 29, 2019. The testimony revealed that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s husband at the time, the husband, in an digital platform called “without her consent”, where Pelicot was seeking men to enter his residence to rape his wife after he had sedated her into a comatose state. We trust the court will affirm that in this country, fundamental rights are also women’s rights – that agreement is personal, not given by another,” said the victim's lawyer, Antoine Camus. “Consent is received directly and not via a representative from a husband.” Background Dominique Pelicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for incapacitating his then wife and bringing in multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the town of Mazan over a period of almost a decade of their marriage. Numerous other individuals were found convicted in a widely publicized trial last year, and Dogan was the single defendant to appeal against his conviction. He was originally handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to ten years. The state's attorney, Dominique Sie, had contended he should serve 12 years, because he “stubbornly rejects to take any accountability”. Testimony and Proof The defendant had initially sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then driven an hour from his residence in the region to rape the victim, after notifying his wife he was leaving, the testimony revealed. The ex-husband, who was transported from segregation in prison to temporarily testify at the retrial, told the court that Dogan had understood his wife had been “sedated” and he said to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to assault my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious without her consent.” The proceedings became a central issue for a broader debate on sexual violence norms in society as Dogan continued to say he was innocent and had not committed rape, stating that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had allowed him into the residence, his conduct had been permissible. The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was displayed video evidence of Gisèle Pelicot’s limp body, sedated and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a smiling Dogan committed rape repeatedly over a period of what authorities reported was 3.5 hours. The presiding judge said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by asphyxiation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unconscious and had not consented. Defendant's Statements The defendant stated to the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and rejected it was violation. He said what he did was “an intimate behavior”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had brought him to the residence, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was manipulated by Dominique Pelicot. “I tried to halt,” the accused informed the court. “I carried on because he reassured me.” Questioned if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, the defendant said: “I never wanted to hurt that woman.” Pelicot's Words The victim, who was supported upon departing the trial each day by crowds gathered to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you acknowledge you assaulted me? It is unlawful to assault an incapacitated woman. How could I have give you agreement? Never.” Gisèle Pelicot, 72, became an international feminist hero after she waived her right to confidentiality 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 blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The public is perhaps in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the revelation of your situation.” The prosecutor said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how normalized violence was still common in society as part of “outdated” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “We need to change the culture of violence to a ethos of permission.” Sie said to the defendant: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a person, it’s an whole sordid cultural framework that you are endorsing.” Biographical Details The accused was born in Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to France, where his parent worked as a concierge. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that Dogan began using drugs aged 10. When he was seventeen he was stopped by police for selling narcotics and his parent kicked him out the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his early 20s and had worked as a builder but had undergone periods of living on the streets. He was wed 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 regular sexual encounters beyond their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his stressful life. The defendant had told a evaluator that each year he looked for paid sex on his birthday. His lawyers informed the court he had a medical condition caused by the stress of the initial proceedings.