Taha O., the main suspect in the murder of Philippine, who was arrested in Switzerland, was indicted in Paris, Wednesday November 6, by an investigating judge, for “murder accompanied by another crime”, which makes him “incurring life imprisonment”declared the Paris prosecutor's office to Agence France-Presse.
Also indicted for repeated rape, this 22-year-old Moroccan national is currently appearing before a judge of freedoms and detention who must decide whether or not to detain him on remand. Taha O. is also being prosecuted for repeat fraud for acts committed in Montreuil, according to the prosecution.
He was extradited on Wednesday from Switzerland, where he had fled after the discovery of Philippine's body. The 19-year-old student at Paris-Dauphine University was found buried in the Bois de Boulogne, in western Paris, on September 21. In the process, a judicial investigation was opened for rape and homicide.
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“A heinous crime”
Taha O. was arrested at the main train station in Geneva on September 24. A few days later, France filed an extradition request but the suspect initially refused to be extradited. “My client made his decision after understanding the ins and outs of the extradition procedure (…). It’s an informed choice on his part.”had underlined his lawyer, Me Florence Yersin.
The suspect had already been convicted in 2021 for rape, then released in June 2024, “at the end of the sentence”according to the Paris prosecutor's office. He was then placed in an administrative detention center in Metz. Upon his release, he was placed under house arrest in a hotel in Yonne where he had never been. Having failed to comply with his obligation to report, he was included in the wanted persons file the day before the murder, September 19.
He was under an obligation to leave the territory, which sparked strong reactions, particularly from the far right, and a virulent public debate. The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, also urged “develop our legal arsenal”on September 25, the day after his arrest. Emmanuel Macron had expressed “the emotion of the whole nation” after a “heinous crime” and felt that it was necessary “better protect the French every day”.
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