Dominique Pelicot Dominique Pelicot, a 72-year-old man, will not seek a 20-year prison sentence, his lawyer Béatrice Zavarro said On appeal, he drugged and raped his wife Gisele over a decade and recruited dozens of men to rape her.

However, at Dominic’s request, 17 of the 49 men convicted of raping or sexually assaulting Ms Pellicott said they would appeal.

There are likely to be more cases before the window for appeals closes at midnight on December 30.

Ms Zavarro told French media that Dominique Pellicot, who pleaded guilty, had decided not to appeal because he did not want to inflict “new ordeals” on Ms Pellicot, who continued her 15-week trial. was in court most of the time.

“He believes this decision is consistent with the position he has taken throughout the trial that Ms Pellicott is not and has never been his opponent,” Ms Zavarro said, adding that Dominic Pellicott hoped “End” this decision. case.

He is required to appear as a witness during the appeal trial.

Although Ms Pellicot is not obliged to join the proceedings, her lawyer Stéphane Babonneau told French media she would “face those who appeal. She is not afraid of this, although she clearly Hope this ends.”

Under French law, a new trial must take place within the next 12 months. However, unlike the first trial, it will be heard by three magistrates and a jury of nine members of the public.

While this won’t necessarily result in a harsher verdict, the huge buzz and media coverage of the trial may mean that the jury ends up being less lenient than the judge.

While jurors will be subject to intense scrutiny, “jurors are people like you and me who may well have preconceived ideas,” lawyer Hansu Yalaz told the BBC.

The men appealing include Charly Arbo, 30, who raped Ms Pellicott six times in his early 20s and was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

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

Many of the men argued that they were “manipulated” by Pelicott into raping his wife and that they were unaware she had not given consent.

Meknese’s lawyer Yannick Prat said: “From the beginning, my client said that he… never intended to rape Gisele Pellicot,” he added. The nine-year prison sentence was “disproportionate”.

He acknowledged that facing a popular jury could result in a harsher sentence, but said he would be “absolutely happy” to cooperate with the jury.

“I would ask them to put themselves in the shoes of all parties in this trial,” he said.

Lawyer Louis-Alain Lemaire said one of his clients who was sentenced to eight years in prison was appealing his guilty verdict because “he had no criminal intent”.

But other defense attorneys believe an appeal would be a risky gamble.

On the day the sentence was handed down, lawyer Patrick Gontard told the BBC that while appeals were often made in the hope of getting a few years off their sentences, all the men – including his client – had been given lighter sentences than he was The sentence has been questioned by prosecutors.

Dominique Pelicot – who his daughter Caroline once called “one of the worst sexual predators of the past 20 years” – targeted his wife Gisé for at least a decade Gisèle drugged, raped and incited others to rape.

He filmed many of the rapes, which allowed investigators to track dozens of men. Ultimately, 50 people were arrested, but about 20 remain unidentified and are believed to be at large.

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

The six men were allowed to leave the court, in most cases because they had already spent time in pretrial detention.

The proceedings, which lasted from September to December, attracted worldwide attention due to Gisele Pellicot’s decision to waive anonymity and open the trial to the public and the media.

She said she did it to help other rape victims: “I wanted them to say: If Mrs. Pellicott did it, so can I.”

“Victims of rape often feel shame, but shame is not our responsibility, it is theirs,” she said.