17 people appealed the sentences

Dominique Pellico, the 72-year-old man who drugged and raped his wife Giselle and recruited dozens of men to rape her over a decade, will not appeal his 20-year prison sentence, his lawyer Beatrice Zavara said.

However, 17 of the 49 men who were convicted of raping or sexually assaulting Ms Pellicott at Dominick’s behest said they would appeal.

More could happen before the window for appeals closes at midnight on December 30.

Ms Zavara told French media that Dominique Pellicot, who pleaded guilty, had decided not to appeal because she did not want to subject Ms Pellicot to “a new trial”, who was in court for the vast majority of the 15-week trial. .

“He felt that this decision was consistent with the position he had always taken in court, which was that Ms. Pellico was not and never had been his adversary,” Ms. Zavara said, adding that Dominic Pellico wanted to be “done” with the case. .

He will have to appear in court as a witness during appeals.

Although Ms. Pellicot is not required to attend the trial, her lawyer, Stéphane Baboneau, told French media that she “will face those who filed the appeal. She is not afraid of that, although she obviously would like it to end here “.

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

While this would not necessarily lead to harsher sentences, the trial’s enormous publicity and media coverage could mean that juries would be less lenient than judges.

Although they will be vetted thoroughly, “jurors are human beings like you and me and may well have biases,” lawyer Hansu Jalaz told the BBC.

Among the men who appealed was Charlie Arbo, 30, who was jailed for 13 years for six separate rapes of Ms Pellicott when he was in his early 20s.

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

Many of the men claimed that they had been “manipulated” by Pellicott into raping his wife and that they did not know that she had not given her consent.

“From the beginning, my client has said that … he never intended to rape Giselle Pellicot,” Mackenzie’s lawyer Yannick Pratt said, adding that the nine-year prison sentence was “disproportionate.”

He admitted the prospect of facing a popular jury could lead to a more serious sentence, but said he would be “absolutely happy” to work with a jury.

“I will ask them to put themselves in the shoes of each of the parties in this court,” he said.

Lawyer Louis-Alain Lemaire said one of his clients, who was sentenced to eight years in prison, is appealing the conviction because “there was no criminal intent on his part.”

But other lawyers believe an appeal would be a risky gamble.

On the day of the sentencing, lawyer Patrick Gontard told the BBC that while appeals are usually made in the hope of shaving years off jail time, all the men – including his client – had already received lighter sentences than the prosecutor had asked for.

Dominic Pellico – who his daughter Caroline once described as “one of the worst sexual predators of the last 20 years” – drugged, raped and incited others to rape his wife Giselle for at least a decade.

He filmed many of the rapes, which allowed investigators to track down dozens of men. Eventually 50 people were arrested, but about 20 people have never been identified and are believed to be still at large.

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

The six men were released on bail, in most cases because of time they had already spent in pretrial detention.

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

She said she did it to help other rape victims: “I want them to say, if Madame Pellicot did it, so can I.”

“Rape victims are often shamed, but that’s not on us, that’s on them,” she said.