Taha O., suspected of the murder of Philippine in September and arrested in Switzerland, was handed over to the French authorities and must be presented to an investigating judge, AFP learned on Wednesday from a source close to the case, confirming information from BFMTV . The 22-year-old Moroccan was handed over to the authorities in Annemasse, this source said.
He had fled to Switzerland after the murder of Philippine, a 19-year-old student whose body was discovered buried in Paris in the Bois de Boulogne. A judicial investigation was opened in Paris for rape and homicide.
This murder caused immense emotion in France and also a virulent public debate. The suspect was already 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 in Metz.
Upon his release, he was placed under house arrest in a hotel in Yonne where he never went. Having failed to comply with his reporting obligation, he was included in the wanted persons file the day before the murder, September 19.
He was under an obligation to leave the territory, which provoked strong reactions, in particular from the far right. After this murder and the arrest of the suspect in Switzerland, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau also urged “to develop the legal arsenal”.
On September 26, President Macron expressed “the emotion of the entire Nation” after a “heinous crime” and considered that it was necessary “to better protect the French every day”.
In a letter addressed to AFP, a previous victim of the suspect spoke to nuance the debates and demand more resources to prevent “the recurrence of sexist and sexual crimes”.
