Pelicot rape case: 17 men to appeal against convictions

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

At the time of filing, 17 of the 49 men who were convicted of raping or sexually assaulting Gisele at Dominique's behest had said they would appeal.

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 Gisele, 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 she was not and never had been his adversary," Zavarro said, adding that Dominique Pelicot wanted to be "done" with this case.