17 men appeal against convictions

Dominique Pelicot, the 72-year-old man who drugged and raped his wife Gisèle and recruited many men to kidnap her for a decade, will not appeal his 20-year prison sentence, his lawyer Béatrice Zavarro said.

However, 17 of the 49 men who were found guilty of raping or sexually assaulting Mrs. Pelicot have said they will appeal.

Details can be followed after the appeal window closes at midnight on 30 December.

Mr Zavarro told French media that Dominique Pelicot – who pleaded guilty – had decided not to appeal because he did not want to bring “new problems” to Ms Pelicot, who appeared in court during the 15-week trial.

“He saw that this decision was in line with what he had always done in the case, that Ms Pelicot was not and had never been his enemy,” Zavarro said, adding that Dominique Pelicot wanted to be “dealt with” by this. a case.

He will be required to appear in court as a witness during the appeal hearing.

Although Ms Pelicot is not due to attend the trial, her lawyer Stéphane Babonneau told French media that “they will meet with the appellants. They are not afraid of this, although obviously it could have ended here.”

Under French law, a new trial must take place within the next 12 months. However, unlike the first case, it will be judged by three judges and a jury made up of nine people.

While this may not result in harsher sentences, the high profile of the case and the media coverage may mean that the jury will be less likely than the jury.

Although they will be carefully reviewed, “the members of the jury are people like you and me and we probably have opinions,” lawyer Hansu Yalaz told the BBC.

Among the men who have appealed is Charly Arbo, now 30, who was jailed for 13 years for raping Ms Pelicot six times when she was in her 20s.

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

Many of the men said that they were “used” by Pelicot to hold his wife, and did not know that she did not approve of him.

“From the beginning, my client said that … he did not want to rape Gisele Pelicot,” said Mekenese lawyer Yannick Prat, adding that the nine-year sentence was “unlimited”.

He acknowledged that the prospect of meeting with a high-profile jury could lead to a larger sentence, but said he would “enjoy” working with the jury.

I will ask them to put themselves in any party in this case,” he said.

Lawyer Louis-Alain Lemaire said one of his clients, who was sentenced to eight years in prison, appealed the guilty verdict because “there was no intention to break the law on his part”.

But some defense lawyers see an appeal as a risky gamble.

On the day the sentences were handed down, lawyer Patrick Gontard told the BBC that although the appeals were made in the hope of shaving a few years off prison terms, all the men – including his client – had already been given lighter sentences. was asked by the prosecutor.

Dominique Pelicot – who his daughter Caroline described as “one of the biggest sleepers of the last 20 years” – used drugs, molested and encouraged others to hold his wife Gisèle for at least a decade.

He filmed many of the rapes, which led investigators to search for more men. 50 people were arrested, but about 20 people have not been identified and are believed to be still at large.

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

Six men were allowed to walk free from court, mostly because of time they had already spent in prison.

The trials – which lasted from September to December – attracted international attention due to Gisèle Pelicot’s decision to lift her anonymity and open the case to the public and the media.

He said he did this to help other victims of rape: “I want them to say: if Madame Pelicot did it, I can do it too.”

“Rape victims often feel ashamed, but it’s not for us to be ashamed. It’s for them,” she said.