This case aroused great emotion in society, in particular because of the criminal past of the suspect who was also under an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) at the time of the facts.
The main suspect in the murder of Philippine, a 19-year-old student found dead on September 21 in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, was arrested a few days after the murder in Switzerland.
Taha O., a 22-year-old Moroccan national already convicted of rape and included in the wanted persons file, refused his extradition to France during his first hearing by a Geneva prosecutor this Wednesday, October 16, reports BFMTV.
His refusal to be extradited complicates the legal procedure and risks delaying his return to France.
If the suspect had accepted extradition, he could have been transferred to France in just a few days thanks to a simplified procedure.
Up to over a year
However, its refusal means that the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) will have to examine the French extradition request in detail before rendering its decision.
According to experts, extradition proceedings can take up to more than a year in the most complex cases, especially if all avenues of appeal are used by the suspect. Taha O. has in particular a period of 30 days to appeal the extradition decision, once it is pronounced.
French Justice Minister Didier Migaud recently said the extradition request had been sent to Switzerland within the legal deadlines. He also said that “France will insist that this person be tried in France.”
France
