extradition to France of the main suspect scheduled for Wednesday

The suspect was arrested on September 24 in Geneva, Switzerland, four days after the murder of the 19-year-old student, found buried in the Bois de Boulogne, in Paris.

The man suspected of being Philippine's murderer must be extradited on Wednesday November 6 from Switzerland to France, franceinfo learned on Monday from a source close to the case, confirming information from CNews. Taha O., a 22-year-old Moroccan, was arrested at Geneva's main station on September 24. France filed an extradition request on October 9, but he refused, at that time, to be extradited.

The suspect was questioned again on Monday by the public prosecutor of the canton of Geneva. He confirmed his consent to being handed over to France according to a simplified extradition procedure, specifies the Paris prosecutor's office. The man changed his mind following a “interview” with her lawyer, she herself assured franceinfo last Tuesday. “It could have lasted a while longer, several months, with the appeals. Accepting extradition at this stage means agreeing to move forward with the procedure that will be carried out in France,” underlined Florence Yersin.

Philippine, a 19-year-old student at Paris-Dauphine University, was found buried in the Bois de Boulogne, in western Paris, on September 21. A judicial investigation is opened in France for rape and homicide.

The suspect was already 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 never went. He was under an obligation to leave the territory and included in the wanted persons file the day before the murder, September 19, which sparked strong reactions, in particular from the far right.