The man suspected of murdering a young woman, Philippine, in Paris in September—a Moroccan illegal immigrant currently imprisoned in Switzerland—has just agreed to be extradited to France, after initially refusing.
The case is causing national outrage because the alleged murderer has previous convictions and is subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), meaning he had no right to be in France.
Taha Oualidat, aged 22, is suspected of killing the 19-year-old in the Bois de Boulogne on Friday, September 20th. He then fled to Switzerland and was finally arrested in Geneva a few days after the murder. He had already been sentenced to seven years in prison for a rape committed in 2019 but was released before the end of his sentence. Since June’s OQTF was initiated, he had refused to comply. The violent killing also coincided with him being registered on the national file of wanted persons.
In mid-October, France submitted an extradition request to the Swiss authorities. Oualidat refused the simplified extradition request, which would have allowed his immediate transfer to France. Long months of appeals were then expected.
He had 14 days in which to add observations after formulating his rejection. In the meantime, discussions were held with his Swiss lawyer, allowing the situation to be resolved at the last minute.
“He took this decision after a discussion with me,” explained Florence Yersin, who visited him several times in prison. Without giving further details of her motivation, the lawyer told BFMTV that he had made the choice “to move forward with the French procedure and not to delay it,” but made it clear that this was in no way an “admission of guilt” on the part of her client.
A letter was sent by the lawyer to the Swiss Federal Office of Justice on Tuesday, October 29th. The repatriation procedure can now be set in motion, with the suspect handed over to the French authorities at the border. Oualidat is expected to arrive in France in the next few days, where he will be heard by a French judge. He will probably then be placed under indictment, and after referral to the liberty judge—charged with overseeing pre-trial investigations—placed in detention.
