Published on October 17, 2024 at 8:58 a.m.
Funeral of Philippine, in Versailles, end of September 2024. – ©Thomas Hubert/SIPA
Arrested in Switzerland on September 24, Taha O., the main suspect in the murder of 19-year-old Philippine, refuses his extradition by simplified procedure to France. An ordinary extradition procedure is now underway.
Taha O., main suspect in the murder of Philippine, refuses to be extradited, we learned on Wednesday October 16. “The accused person did not consent to simplified extradition,” said a spokesperson for the Federal Office of Justice in an email to AFP, confirming information from Swiss public television RTS.
The Paris prosecutor’s office also confirmed to AFP that it had “learned from Swiss justice that the suspect had been heard on October 16, and had refused his extradition by simplified procedure.” France filed an extradition request on October 9.
“The extradition procedure by the ordinary form is continuing,” said the Paris prosecutor’s office. On September 21, he opened a judicial investigation for rape and homicide after the discovery of the body of Philippine, a 19-year-old student. The young woman was found buried in the Bois de Boulogne. Taha O., the main suspect, was arrested at Geneva’s main station on September 24.
A procedure that can last “more than a year”
The Swiss Federal Ministry of Justice can now follow the will of the accused or deviate from it and demand his extradition. In this case, the accused can appeal all the way to the Federal Court, the highest legal authority in Switzerland. In any case, he remains in detention until the end of the extradition procedure.
“The ordinary procedure can last more than a year, particularly in complex cases and if all avenues of appeal are used,” specifies the ministry’s information sheet on extradition procedures.
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