Taha Oualidat, main suspect in the murder of Philippine, was heard for the first time by a Geneva prosecutor this Wednesday, October 16, reveals BFMTV. During this hearing, he was asked if he agreed to be extradited to France, which he refused, as confirmed by a source close to the case and the Paris prosecutor’s office.
The Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) in Switzerland also confirmed this information, declaring through its spokesperson that “the accused person has not consented to simplified extradition”. If the suspect had accepted this procedure, he could have been transferred to France in just a few days. The Paris prosecutor’s office indicated that it had “learned from Swiss justice that the suspect had been heard on October 16, and had refused his extradition by simplified procedure”. Under these conditions, the ordinary extradition procedure continues.
On September 21, the Paris prosecutor’s office opened a judicial investigation for “rape and homicide” after the discovery of the body of Philippine, a 19-year-old student at Paris-Dauphine University, buried in the Bois de Boulogne, in Paris. Taha Oualidat, of Moroccan nationality and aged 22, was arrested on September 24 at the main train station in Geneva.
“The ordinary procedure can last more than a year”
France officially filed an extradition request on October 9. The Swiss Federal Office of Justice must now rule on this request. If the Swiss authorities decide to follow the ordinary route, the suspect will be able to lodge an appeal, which could prolong the procedure for several weeks or even months. In this case, the procedure could go all the way to the Federal Court, the highest legal instance in Switzerland. According to a fact sheet from the Swiss Ministry of Justice, “the ordinary procedure can last more than a year, particularly in complex cases and if all avenues of appeal are taken”.
Taha Oualidat was already known to the justice services in France. Arriving from Spain in 2019 when he was 17 years old, he benefited from a tourist visa valid until July 2019 and was taken care of by Val-d’Oise child welfare. because of his minority. Shortly after his arrival, he was sentenced in 2021 to seven years in prison for the rape of a 23-year-old student, committed on a forest trail in Taverny (Val-d’Oise). He was identified using his DNA by investigators from the Val-d’Oise Departmental Security. He was released in June 2024, at the end of his sentence, after spending almost five years in prison.
Upon his release, Taha Oualidat was placed in an administrative detention center (CRA) in Metz, in eastern France, with a view to his expulsion. He had been under an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) since June 18. On September 3, a judge of freedoms and detention (JLD) ordered his house arrest in a hotel in Yonne, with a reporting obligation. He had never shown up at this hotel. On September 6, a consular pass from Morocco was issued to allow his expulsion, but he was already on the run and was the subject of a search card.
