France filed a request with the Swiss authorities on Wednesday for the extradition of Taha O., suspected of the murder of Philippine, announced Thursday morning the Minister of Justice, Didier Migaud on BFMTV.
“France will, of course, insist that this person be tried in France,” added the minister. The request “was made by France on time. Now the procedure must take its course.”
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.
Taha O., a 22-year-old Moroccan, is the main suspect. He was arrested in Switzerland on September 24. “He is today detained in Switzerland, so there is a guarantee regarding his detention,” assured Didier Migaud.
Registered in the wanted persons file
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”.
