He is the main suspect in the Philippine murder case. Taha O., arrested in Switzerland three days after the discovery of the body of this student in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris, was interviewed by a Geneva prosecutor this Wednesday. During this hearing, this 22-year-old Moroccan national indicated that he refused to be extradited to France, AFP learned, confirming information from BFMTV.
The Swiss Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) must make a decision on his extradition in the coming days. If it considers that Taha O. must be extradited, the latter will then have eight days to file an appeal.
Video“She was intelligent and full of life”: at Paris-Dauphine University, the shock wave after Philippine’s death
This extradition request was officially transmitted by France on October 10, assured the new Minister of Justice Didier Migaud. According to him, this request was made within the legal time limit of 18 days. “He is now detained in Switzerland. There is a guarantee regarding its detention. Now, I cannot replace Swiss justice and the Swiss government,” he added. “France will insist that this person be tried in France. »
A judicial investigation was opened for rape and homicide after the discovery, on September 21, of the body of Philippine, a 19-year-old student at Paris-Dauphine University, found buried in the Bois de Boulogne, in western Paris.
The suspect had already been convicted in 2021 for rape, then released in June 2024, “at the end of his sentence” according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. He was then placed in an administrative detention center (CRA) 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 (OQTF), provoking strong reactions, in particular from the far right. The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, also urged us to “evolve our legal arsenal”.
