Sentenced to twenty-five years in prison at first instance for having kicked his partner in the head, Gianni Drissi has been appearing since Tuesday before the Essonne Assize Court, after appealing the decision.
Read alsoMurder of Aissatou Sow: sentenced to 25 years in prison, his companion appeals
The case had been tried in November 2020 in a full house despite the confinement, and an online petition “Justice for Aissatouhad collected more than 40,000 signatures. The crime dates back to September 2016. Aissatou Sow spends the evening with friends in a bar, which triggers a fit of jealousy in her companion.
He sends her a video where, obviously drunk, he loads a revolver and threatens her: “In the name of Allah, you wanted to go clubbing with guys, I know everything, I’m going to kill you“. Returning in the night, Aissatou is caught up on the third floor of her building in Valenton (Val-de-Marne) by Gianni Drissi who slaps her “very, very violent“, according to him. The young woman, destabilized, falls, banging her head on the elevator. While she is on the ground, the accused – who practices kickboxing – kicks her several times in the head.
Aissatou died, aged 21, from his injuries a month and a half later. The victim had never filed a complaint against her boyfriend, whom she had been dating for six years, despite the recurrent violence reported by those around her. The Val-de-Marne Assize Court had found Gianni Drissi guilty of murder, 20 years old at the time of the events and already convicted 17 times, in particular for violent robberies. But she had not retained the premeditation. Tried again for murder, a premeditated homicide, Gianni Drissi faces life imprisonment.
When the verdict was announced at first instance, and when he had assured during the day to regret his gesture, Gianni Drissi had turned around, lowering his mask and insulting the family of the disappeared. “Take a good look at me, don’t worry“, he had threatened the brother of the victim. According to a report from the Ministry of the Interior, 146 women were victims of feminicide in 2019, and 102 in 2020.
SEE ALSO – Violence against women: Valérie Pécresse calls for a “specialized jurisdiction like that of the Spaniards”