Arrested last September in Switzerland, Taha Oualidat was extradited to France this Wednesday for his alleged involvement in the rape and murder of Philippine, a 19-year-old student. Detained at the Annemasse border, the undocumented Moroccan national was taken to Paris to be presented to an investigating judge, according to a source close to the investigation, cited by BFMTV.
The same source reports that the extradition took place “without incident”. Last Monday, the 22-year-old defendant was heard by the public prosecutor of the canton of Geneva, before whom he confirmed his consent to be handed over to France according to a simplified procedure, which he initially refused. On September 24, he was arrested in Switzerland, four days after the discovery of the victim's body in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.
To arrive in France for the first time, Taha, then aged 17, crossed Spain. Entered with “a tourist visa valid from June 13, 2019 to July 27, 2019”, he was taken care of by Val-d’Oise child welfare, due to his minority. Shortly later, he committed a first rape on a 23-year-old student, in a forest trail in Taverny (Val-d'Oise).
In this first case, the suspect was identified by investigators using his DNA. Placed in preventive detention then sentenced to seven years in prison, he will be released in 2024. Since June 18, he has been subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF). “The Morocco pass request was issued on the same day, June 18, 2024, but not by the right service. Thus, on June 24, the Moroccan authorities responded that the request should be issued by the General Directorate of Foreigners in France (DGEF),” BFMTV reported, citing police sources.
Due to his evasion from the reporting obligation and house arrest in a hotel in Yonne, while Morocco finally provided a consular pass allowing his expulsion, the suspect was included in the file of wanted people on September 19. The next day, he was suspected of killing Philippine.
