On Sunday September 29, Agence France-Presse (AFP) received a letter from a previous victim of Taha O., the man suspected of the murder of 19-year-old Philippine. The young woman urges more means to prevent “the recurrence of sexist and sexual crimes”.
“I did everything to ensure that what happened to me would not be repeated. » Taha O.’s first victim expressed all her anger in a letter addressed to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Sunday September 29. “I filed a complaint […]held firm during the two years of investigation, instruction and then trial, telling me that my approach would protect other women,” she is indignant.
“Why did the prison system fail to prevent this recidivism? Why were we unable to stop this escalation of violence leading to the murder of a young woman? », asks the writer of the letter, who requests the “launch of a commission of inquiry” on this question of recidivism.
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“An unbearable void”
Sentenced in 2021 for rape against this woman, Taha O. was released in June 2024, “at the end of his sentence” according to the Paris prosecutor’s office. A few months later, Philippine was killed. “I think of Philippine and her family, and I am immensely sad. I would like to comfort them, comfort her, but I only face the unbearable void left by her death,” laments “Taha O’s first victim.”
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The body of Philippine, a 19-year-old student at Paris-Dauphine University, was found buried in the Bois de Boulogne, in western Paris, on Saturday September 21. A judicial investigation was opened for rape and homicide. Taha O., a 22-year-old Moroccan already convicted in 2021 for rape, is the main suspect. Arrested in Switzerland on Tuesday, the French authorities indicated on Thursday that they would quickly request his extradition.
The fact that the suspect is under an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) has sparked strong reactions, in particular from the far right. The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, notably urged us to “evolve our legal arsenal, to protect the French”. The “dysfunction” of the OQTF should not “obliterate the essential question of recidivism”, nuance the “first victim”.
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The central question of recidivism
“What measures to prevent recidivism are planned and actually implemented in detention centers? What is the impact of detention in reducing the risk of repeat offenses? What reintegration support programs are planned? », she lists. “Even if this OQTF would have been respected, what international cooperation mechanisms exist to prevent the recurrence of sexist and sexual crimes by deported criminals? Our brotherhood, our humanism, cannot stop at the gates of our borders.”
