Philippine murder: main suspect, Taha Oualidat, formally charged with murder and recidivist rape

On Wednesday November 6, Taha Oualidat, the main suspect in the murder of Philippine, was officially indicted on charges of murder preceded or accompanied by another recidivist crime, and recidivist rape. According to information provided to H24 MEDIA by the Paris public prosecutor’s office, these charges are in addition to those of theft and swindling, also in a state of recidivism, for earlier events in Montreuil. The suspect faces life imprisonment and has been remanded in custody.

Extradited from Switzerland on October 29, Taha Oualidat was transferred to France following his arrest in Geneva on September 24, a few days after the body of Philippine, a young Parisian student found dead in the Bois de Boulogne last September.

Silent interrogation

During his appearance before the juge des libertés et de la détention, the suspect, dressed in a black jogging suit, remained mostly silent, keeping his eyes downcast except to observe the journalists present. During his initial interrogation, he also refused to answer the examining magistrate’s questions.

A career marked by recidivism

Aged 22, Taha Oualidat arrived in France in 2019 from Spain. Shortly afterwards, he was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for a rape committed in Taverny, in the Val-d’Oise region of France. Released under house arrest in September, he never presented himself to the authorities on leaving the detention center. Although the Moroccan authorities had issued a consular pass for his deportation, this could not be executed before he disappeared.

This case, which received a great deal of media coverage, aroused strong emotions and reopened the debate on the prevention of recidivism and the procedures for deporting people who are obliged to leave the country.