the suspect charged in Paris

The young man suspected of Philippine's murder was indicted on Wednesday by the Paris prosecutor's office.

The main suspect in the murder of Philippine was indicted in Paris on Wednesday for “murder accompanied by another crime”, after being extradited by Switzerland. He risks “life imprisonment,” said the Paris prosecutor’s office.

Also indicted for repeat rape, Taha O. appeared before a liberty and detention judge, who placed him in pre-trial detention, according to the prosecution.

He is suspected of the murder of the young 19-year-old student, whose body was discovered buried in Paris in the Bois de Boulogne at the end of September. A judicial investigation was opened for rape and homicide.

Wednesday evening, at the hearing before the judge of freedoms and detention, the Moroccan appeared hunched, his gaze fixed on the ground, before the magistrate declared the case closed. Afterwards, his lawyer did not wish to comment.

The suspect remains silent

He was extradited on Wednesday from Switzerland, where he had fled after the discovery of the student's body in September. The handover of this 22-year-old Moroccan national took place at the Franco-Geneva border.

He was then presented to an investigating judge, who pronounced his indictment. In addition to the charges for murder accompanied by a crime and repeat rape, Taha O. is also being prosecuted for repeat theft, as well as repeat fraud for acts committed in Montreuil, according to the prosecution. According to the public prosecutor, he remained silent before the magistrate.

The man was arrested at Cornavin station on September 24. France filed an extradition request on October 9 with the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ). The suspect initially refused his extradition, before changing his mind last week.

The investigations are therefore continuing, with “the objective of establishing the circumstances of the commission of the facts and the journey” of Taha O., underlined Wednesday evening the Paris prosecutor, Laure Beccuau, in a press release.

The murder of the young woman caused immense emotion in France and provoked a virulent public debate. The suspect had in fact already been convicted of rape in 2021, then was 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.

The man was under an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF). When he left the CRA, after his detention had been extended three times, he was placed under house arrest in a hotel where he never went. Having failed to comply with his obligation to report, he was included in the wanted persons file the day before the murder, September 19. (ats/afp)

International news day and night, it's here

Every four years, a hamlet nestled in the heart of the forests of New Hampshire cultivates a strange tradition: bringing together its few inhabitants in the middle of the night to vote for their candidate, thus kicking off the vote in the rest of the country . Here is their verdict.

Close your eyes, imagine. A winding and wet road, among pines, oaks and poplars. A wisp of mist floats between the branches. A setting not so different, in fact, from the path that separates Sainte-Croix from Val-de-Travers. And then, suddenly, a large white panel.