Agencies PARIS

Dominique Pelicot, the 72-year-old man who drugged and raped his wife Gisèle Pelicot 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.

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.

He will need to be present in court as a witness during the appeals trial. Although Gisele 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. Among the men who have appealed are Charly Arbo, now 30, who was sentenced to 13 years in jail for raping Gisele 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 Dominique 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".