Gisèle Pelicot rape case: 17 men appeal against convictions

Gisèle Pelicot attended court for most of the 15-week trial

Dominique Pelicot, the 72-year-old man who drugged and raped his wife Gisèle and recruited dozens of men to rape her over a decade, will not appeal against his 20-year jail sentence, his lawyer Béatrice Zavarro said.

However, 17 of the 49 men who were convicted of raping or sexually assaulting Ms Pelicot at Dominique's behest have said they will appeal.

More could follow before the window to lodge appeals closes at midnight on 30 December.

Ms Zavarro told French media that Dominique Pelicot - who admitted his guilt - had decided not to appeal as he did not want to inflict a "new ordeal" on Ms Pelicot, who attended court for the vast majority of the 15-week-long trial.

"He felt that this decision was in line with the position he had always taken in the trial, namely that Ms Pelicot was not and never had been his adversary," Ms Zavarro said, adding that Dominique Pelicot wanted to be "done" with this case.

He will need to be present in court as a witness during the appeals trial.

Although Ms Pelicot is under no obligation to attend the proceedings, her lawyer Stéphane Babonneau told French media that she would "face those who appealed. She's not scared of that, although she obviously would have rather it ended here."

Under French law, a new trial will have to be held over the next 12 months. However, unlike the first trial, it will be judged by three magistrates and a jury made up of nine members of the public.

While this will not necessarily result in harsher sentences, the trial's huge resonance and media coverage may mean the jury ends up being less lenient than the judges.

Although they will be closely vetted, "members of the jury are humans like you and I and may well have preconceptions," lawyer Hansu Yalaz told the BBC.

• Who are the men convicted in the Gisèle Pelicot rape trial?

• Dominique Pelicot: Who is the man who plotted his wife's mass rape?

Among the men who have appealed are Charly Arbo, now 30, who was sentenced to 13 years in jail for raping Ms Pelicot on six separate occasions when he was in his early 20s.

Construction worker Simoné Mekenese, 43, and nurse Redouane El Farihi, 55, who were sentenced to nine and eight years respectively, have also appealed.

Many of the men argued they were "manipulated" by Pelicot into raping his wife, and that they were not aware she had not given her consent.

"Since the start, my client has said he... never meant to rape Gisele Pelicot," said Mekenese's lawyer Yannick Prat, adding that the nine-year jail sentence was "disproportionate".

He admitted the prospect of facing a popular jury could result in a heftier sentence, but said he would be "absolutely happy" to work with jurors.

Patrick Gontard said it was "out of the question" for him to appeal against his client's sentence

"I will ask them to put themselves in the shoes of every party in this trial," he said.

Lawyer Louis-Alain Lemaire said one of his clients, who was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment, was appealing the guilty verdict as "there was no criminal intention on his part".

But other defence lawyers feel that an appeal would be a risky gamble.

On the day the verdicts were handed down, lawyer Patrick Gontard told the BBC that while appeals are usually lodged in the hope of shaving off a few years from a jail sentence, all the men - including his client - had already been handed lighter sentences than had been asked by prosecutor.

Dominique Pelicot - who his daughter Caroline once called "one of the worst sexual predators of the last 20 years" - drugged, raped and incited others to rape his wife Gisèle for at least a decade.

He filmed many of the rapes, which allowed investigators to track down dozens of men. Fifty were eventually arrested, but about 20 individuals were never identified and are believed to be still at large.

The court found 47 of the men guilty of rape, two guilty of attempted rape, and two guilty of sexual assault.

Six men were allowed to walk free from court, in most cases because of the time they had already spent in pre-trial detention.

The proceedings - which lasted from September to December - garnered worldwide attention thanks to Gisèle Pelicot's decision to waive her anonymity and open the trial to the public and the media.

She said she did so in order to help other victims of rape: "I want them to say: if Madame Pelicot did it, I can too."

"Victims of rape are often ashamed, but it's not on us to have shame. It's on them," she said.