Why Gisèle Pelicot and her daughter no longer speak
Caroline Darian, the daughter of Gisèle Pelicot, believes her mother denies Ms Darian's potential abuse by her father, Dominique Pelicot, as a form of self-protection. The pair no longer speak.
Ms Darian claims her mother is unable to acknowledge that she was likely drugged by her father due to the taboo nature of incest in France.
Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2024 for drugging and raping his wife and arranging for other men to rape her, resulting in 51 convictions.
Ms Darian claims she was also a victim of chemical submission by her father after discovering pictures of herself unconscious and partially undressed, but lacks concrete evidence of sexual abuse.
Ms Darian has written a book about her experiences and founded the campaign 'Don't Put Me Under: Stop Chemical Submission'.
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The Independent
40 minutes ago
- The Independent
Captain of MV Matthew carrying 2.2 tonnes of cocaine ‘feared for his life'
A retired marine engineer who was captain of the MV Matthew while it was carrying more than 2.2 tonnes of cocaine claimed that he feared for his life and his family if he did not follow instructions, a court has heard. Iranian Soheil Jelveh, 51, said there was an element of fear on board the vessel, and admitted he was aware that the consignment on the ship was not 'spare parts'. He said that he was captain in name but he had to follow orders like everyone else. The non-jury Special Criminal Court in Dublin was told on Tuesday that he was in fear of being killed and that his family, who were in Dubai, would also be killed. The court was also told that a number of the crew were hired by a transnational organised crime group for the operation. Jelveh is one of seven men charged with offences arising from the seizure of 2.25 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated value of more than 157 million euros (£132 million), which was on board the ship the MV Matthew, a Panamanian-registered bulk carrier. Ukrainians Mykhailo Gavryk, and Vitaliy Vlasoi, both 32; Iranians Jelveh and Saeid Hassani, 39; Filipino Harold Estoesta, 31, and Dutch national Cumali Ozgen, 49, all pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply on board the MV Mathew between 24 and 26 September 2023. Ukrainian national Vitaliy Lapa, aged 62, with an address at Rudenka, Repina Str in Berdyansk, pleaded guilty to attempting to possess cocaine for sale or supply between 21 and 25 September 2023. Jamie Harbron, aged 31, of South Avenue, Billingham in the UK, also pleaded guilty that on a date between September 21 and September 25, 2023, both dates inclusive, he attempted to have cocaine in his possession for the purpose of sale or supply, an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Act. Detective Superintendent Keith Halley told the court in Dublin that messages sent to crew members of the MV Matthew told them to consider moving the bags containing drugs on to a lifeboat and then release it into the sea as Irish authorities got closer to the vessel. The court heard that Ozgen, who was described in court by his barrister Brendan Grehan as having a lack of sea experience, was to go into the lifeboat with 22 tonnes of drugs in 'one of the worst storms'. Six men who were arrested on board ignored instructions from the LE William Butler Yeats naval vessel a number of times. Detective Halley, who was a Revenue Customs liaison for Irish police, gave evidence that the authorities received information about a fishing trawler being used to import drugs, which led to the formation of a joint task force between gardai, the Revenue Customs Service and the Irish Naval Service. Jelveh, a father of two, claimed he felt violated by people in the 'head office' who were not present on the vessel, and that there was a threat over him that was not there in relation to his co-accused. Jelveh qualified as a maritime engineer in 1997 and worked as a marine engineer until 2008 and moved through the ranks to became first deck officer. He became captain in 2019. He had since retired and was working as a football coach. Prosecution barrister John Berry SC told the court that the crew had attempted to set the drugs on fire as they attempted to flee Irish authorities and head into the high seas. Messages discovered in a WhatsApp group, called The Deck Officers, revealed how the crew was instructed to be ready to burn the cargo and head towards Sierra Leone if a helicopter tried to intercept the ship. The crew were told to 'make sure everything is burnt' and to use paint thinner to set the cargo alight. They were also ordered by people not on board the vessel not to communicate with Irish authorities. The crew had been ordered by authorities to steer the vessel towards the Irish coast and dock at Cork. The court heard that they were willing to comply with the instructions, however, they were going full steam ahead to the high seas and were planning on travelling to Sierra Leone. The court was told that the crew had been making efforts to deter the arrival of the Army Ranger Wing to allow for the removal of the drugs. Footage and photographs shown to the court revealed there was smoke coming from the lifeboat after an attempt was made to set the drugs alight. Cans of paint, used to set it on fire, were also found on the life raft. Detective Halley also told the court today that the people instructing the crew had 'immense capabilities, unlimited resources and a global reach'. He said it became apparent through the message groups that those who were controlling the vessel and sending instructions on what to do were based in Dubai. They had sent messages instructing the crew to keep going, including reassuring messages like 'just relax and this will all be over soon'. They also gave the wrong information that Irish authorities could not board the vessel. The sentence hearing is taking place before Ms Justice Melanie Grealy Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge Grainne Malone. The sentencing hearing continues on Wednesday.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Scaring Putin is the only route to a just peace
Nobody in their right mind thought Putin would come to the latest round of peace talks in Istanbul with any seriousness. And so it has proven. His demands are straight out of Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko's negotiating playbook: demand the maximum, present ultimatums and do not give one inch. Putin's terms for a final settlement are no different from his diktats from the start, including international recognition of Moscow's occupation of the four regions he considers Russian territory, and a guarantee Ukraine never joins any international alliances. Even Putin's pathways to a temporary ceasefire require withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from all of the four regions, demobilisation of the armed forces, cessation of international military aid and electing a new government. In other words: total capitulation, with Ukraine surrendering its sovereignty, partitioned, isolated, disarmed and a Russian puppet government in Kyiv. That doesn't mean negotiations shouldn't continue in the hope of achieving less punitive terms. The Ukrainian government has already signalled it would be ready to accept the temporary occupation of territory Russia has already captured. But it is hard to see how Putin will climb down from his maximalist position without significant changes on the battlefield or to the economic situation. President Trump tried a softball approach with Putin, extending the prospect of major economic benefits through a return to normalisation in US-Russia relations. Putin hasn't bought that even though he has ham-fistedly attempted to mollify Trump and encourage him to abandon Ukraine with his disingenuous ploy of engaging in negotiations. Trump obviously sees right through that. He said he was 'p----d off' by Putin's proposal that Ukraine should be placed under external administration with elections overseen by the UN. The US now needs to try a different approach. Trump can say he did everything he could to end the bloodshed in the first months of his presidency but Putin's intransigence now demands different tactics. What would those tactics be? Continue to hold out an olive branch while doubling down on US military backing to Ukraine and pressuring European allies to do the same thing. It was Biden's faltering leadership that allowed most West European countries as well as the US to do the least they could get away with. That needs to change and we've already seen how Trumpian hectoring can compel Europeans to boost their own defence spending, both in his first term and even more in his second. Renewing US commitment to Nato would also help encourage European leaders. It would send a powerful message to Putin too, whose overriding strategic objective is dividing the West. We need to move on from providing Ukraine with just enough to defend themselves but never enough to prevail. The effort required to drive Russia back out of Ukraine is probably too much to expect, but the point would be to enable Kyiv to do even more damage to Russian forces to compel Putin to reconsider his current calculation that he can grind Ukraine down and outlast the West's support. Among the most harmful constraints Biden imposed on Ukraine was forbidding use of US-supplied weapons to attack Russian sovereign territory. That was the consequence of his fear of Russian escalation, both against Ukraine and Nato countries. It allowed Putin to continue to shield the Russian population from the conflict, keeping it limited to a 'special military operation'. Kyiv didn't play ball though, firing home-made drones into Russia and even mounting the first invasion of its territory since the Second World War. The latest breathtaking drone attack on Russia, which destroyed a large chunk of its strategic air force on the ground shows what can be done. Some say the US and European countries should distance themselves from that, dreading Moscow's retaliation. But irrespective of the diplomatic position they choose to take, they should do the opposite, by giving Ukraine what it needs to carry out further strikes to undermine Russian military capability, drive the war home to the population and humiliate Putin. Trump should start to do real economic damage to Russia. Much can be achieved by more effective military action to increase weapons and equipment loss rates, potentially forcing Putin to transition the economy to a full war footing. The half-hearted sanctions against Russia have not been good enough and European countries have paid more to Russia for hydrocarbons than they have given in aid to Ukraine. We need to turn the screws by tougher measures against the Russian energy sector, finally detaching Moscow from the international banking system and disrupting the ghost tanker fleet that has allowed oil revenues to surge. A bitter blow would also be landed by seizing the entirety of Russia's $330 billion of frozen assets in Western countries to pay for the war, or at least plan to do so subject to negotiations.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Imane Khelif breaks silence after leaked medical report ‘proves Olympic gender-row boxer is a biological male'
IMANE KHELIF has issued a response after a leaked medical report claimed the gold medal-winning Olympian was a "biological male". Khelif, 26, won Algeria's first-ever female gold medal in boxing during the Paris Games in 2024. 2 However, during Khelif's run to the final, she was embroiled in a bitter gender row after being banned from International Boxing Association competition in 2023. The IBA banned Khelif after tests taken in New Delhi allegedly produced the DNA of a 'male'. The IOC - who replaced the IBA as the Olympic's boxing governing body - were warned about the tests and urged to remove Khelif from the competition. But Khelif was allowed to box in Paris because of her female passport status. Now, the alleged sex-test results from the 2023 World Championships have been published for the first time by 3 Wire Sports, and suggest the boxer is biologically male. American journalist Alan Abrahamson produced the result of a test said to have been carried out on the boxer in New Delhi in March 2023 - which triggered the boxer's disqualification. The document published summarises the findings on Khelif as 'abnormal', stating: 'Chromosome analysis reveals male karyotype." A karyotype refers to an individual's complete set of chromosomes, which in Khelif's case has been reported by (IBA) as being XY, the male pattern. Khelif refused to respond directly to the claims in a social media post on Monday, instead focusing on her work as a Unicef ambassador - a role she has held since January 2024. The post featured a photo of Khelif wearing a blue polo bearing the organisation's logo as she made a heart symbol with her hands to celebrate the "Global Day of Parents". Imane Khelif wins Olympic gold in women's welterweight final after huge gender row that has grabbed worldwide attention She paid tribute to her own parents in the caption, saying: "Today, I became a champion, but it all started long ago. When my parents believed in me, even when the dream felt too big. "When they supported me, listened to me, and stood by me. Being a parent isn't easy. There's no manual. But the love, patience, and trust you give your child can change everything. "On this #GlobalDayOfParents, I just want to say thank you. Thank you to every parent who chooses, every single day, to be there for their children. "Together with @unicefalgerie, I'm celebrating these everyday heroes. Because when parents are supported, children can dream and succeed." The alleged test results disputing Khelif's gender carry the letterhead of Dr Lal PathLabs in New Delhi, accredited by the American College of Pathologists and certified by the Swiss-based International Organisation for Standardisation. This directly challenges what IOC spokesman Mark Adams said in a tense news conference at the Paris Olympics. He described the results that saw Khelif banned as 'ad hoc' and 'not legitimate'. IOC president Thomas Bach even claimed that the results are the product of a Russian-led misinformation campaign. It followed after the IBA - headed by Russia's Umar Kremlev - had been stripped of IOC recognition in a row over ethics and financial management. Khelif has always denied being a biological male and even named JK Rowling and Elon Musk in a cyberbullying lawsuit. And the 26-year-old has vowed to fight on, even eyeing another gold at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. But World Boxing has ruled that Khelif is ineligible to enter future events as a woman without first submitting to the same chromosome testing that has already triggered the boxer's disqualification at global level. The governing body - provisionally approved to run Olympic boxing in LA - announced that all athletes in its competitions over 18 years old must undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) genetic test to determine their sex. The test detects chromosomal material through a mouth swab, saliva or blood. Khelif has failed to provide any evidence of having female chromosomes in the nine months since the gender scandal erupted. In February, Khelif spoke out in her defence and wrote: 'For two years, I have taken the high road while my name and image have been used, unauthorised, to further personal and political agendas through the spreading and dissemination of baseless lies and misinformation. But silence is no longer an option. 'The IBA, an organisation that I am no longer associated with and which is no longer recognised by the IOC, have again made baseless accusations that are false and offensive, using them to further their agenda... 'My team is carefully reviewing the situation and will take all necessary legal steps to ensure that my rights and the principles of fair competition are upheld." An IOC spokesperson told Sun Sport: "The IOC has always made it clear that eligibility criteria are the responsibility of the respective International Federation. "The factors that matter to sports performance are unique to each sport, discipline, and/or event. "We await the full details how sex testing will be implemented in a safe, fair and legally enforceable way."
