The main suspect in the murder of Philippine in September, who was arrested in Switzerland, was handed over to the French authorities and indicted by an investigating judge, this Wednesday, November 6, for “repeat murder and rape,” announced the Paris prosecutor's office.
The qualification of “murder accompanied by another crime” makes it “incurring life imprisonment”according to the prosecution. Taha O. was placed in pre-trial detention, after appearing before a liberty and detention judge. His lawyer did not wish to comment, after a quick hearing behind closed doors.
Handed over to French authorities
The suspect was handed over to the French authorities in the morning, then referred immediately. He was heard again on Monday by the public prosecutor of the canton of Geneva and confirmed his consent to being handed over to France according to a simplified extradition procedure. At the time of his arrest, he refused to be extradited to France, before reversing his decision.
Read also: Murder of Philippine in Paris: what we know about the suspect arrested in Switzerland
On September 20, the disappearance of Philippine, a 19-year-old student from Paris Dauphine, was reported. The next day, his body was found buried in the Bois de Boulogne during a hunt organized by his relatives. On September 24, Taha O. was arrested in Switzerland, at the Geneva station.
The 22-year-old man, of Moroccan nationality, was known to the courts: he had been convicted of rape in 2021 and had been released three months before the murder. 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 never went. Having failed to comply with his obligation to report, he was included in the wanted persons file the day before the murder, September 19, recalls theAFP. He was subject to an Obligation to leave French territory (OQTF).
Many political reactions
The murder of Philippine caused a great stir in France and caused a reaction in the political sphere, relaunching the public debate on the execution of the OQTF. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau also urged “develop our legal arsenal”.
On September 26, from Montreal, Emmanuel Macron reacted to the news item, expressing “the emotion of the entire Nation” after a “heinous crime”. He felt that it was necessary “better protect the French every day”.
In a letter addressed to theAFPa previous victim of the suspect had spoken out to demand more resources to prevent “the recidivism of sexist and sexual crimes”.
