Philippine, a 19-year-old university student, did not return home on the evening of September 20. Her parents, alerted by her disappearance, reported the case and organized a search in the Bois de Boulogne, the great green lung of the 16th district of Paris, one of the most exclusive areas of the city, about 500 meters from the University of Paris-Dauphine, where her daughter studied. A day later, her body was found half-buried and with signs of violence. On Monday night, the Swiss police arrested in Geneva the main suspect in the murder: a 22-year-old Moroccan who entered France through Spain, who committed another rape when he was a minor and who, after spending five years in prison, was not expelled from the country because the administrative process between France and Morocco was delayed. During that time, he allegedly raped the student.
The case has ignited the immigration debate in France, which has been extremely heated in recent times. Just at the moment when the new government of the conservative Michel Barnier is beginning to receive the first pressures from the National Rally (RN) of the far-right Marine Le Pen, who holds the key to its continuity, Philipine’s death is further straining positions. Also within the Executive, where the view on this issue differs between the Ministry of Justice, headed by the ex-socialist Didier Migaud, and the Ministry of the Interior, led by the conservative Bruno Retailleau. The latter regretted the “horrible” murder. But he also assured that “we cannot only deplore or condemn.” “We must evolve our legal arsenal. And if we have to change the rules, let’s change them.” The case already anticipates the tensions that will be experienced between the heads of both ministries, at ideological antipodes on how to deal with issues such as immigration.
The Paris prosecutor’s office, according to French media, confirmed that the man was “in an irregular situation on French territory.” “He was convicted in October 2021 for rape committed in 2019, when he was still a minor, and released at the end of his sentence in June 2024.” The suspect also had an expulsion order from French territory with a ban on returning for 10 years. And the day before Philippine’s death, on September 19, he was entered into the register of wanted persons for failing to comply with his obligation to report to the police station.
The far right was also quick to seize on the case to denounce the laxity of French laws and administrative procedures in the face of illegal immigration. Jordan Bardella, president of the RN, was one of the first to take advantage of the widespread indignation. “Philippine’s life was taken by a Moroccan migrant with an expulsion order. This migrant should have been on our territory, but he was able to reoffend with total impunity. Our justice system is lenient, our state does not function, our leaders allow the French to live with human bombs. It is time for this government to act: our compatriots are angry and will not be satisfied with words.”
On the night of the murder, witnesses reported seeing a man with a pickaxe in the area. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the man was “identified and arrested in the canton of Geneva” a few days later. According to initial reports, the suspect had served five years in prison for another rape when he was still a minor and was released on June 20. He was then placed in an administrative detention centre (CRA) in Metz. On September 3, a judge approved his release from the detention centre, a measure accompanied by house arrest and the obligation to report to the police station regularly to sign in. On September 4, Morocco sent the “expulsion authorisation” to the French authorities.
Taha O. is a Moroccan citizen, born in 2002 in Oujda. According to The Figaroentered France from Spain on 13 June 2019 on a tourist visa, when he was 17 years old. At the time, he was taken in by the Val-d’Oise child welfare service. At the end of summer 2019, he raped a 23-year-old student on a forest path in Taverny, in the Val-d’Oise. He was identified by investigators of the Val-d’Oise Departmental Security thanks to his DNA, arrested, and placed in pre-trial detention. Two years later, in October 2021, he was sentenced by a juvenile court to seven years in prison. During his imprisonment, he received no visitors or phone calls.
Knowing what’s happening outside means understanding what’s going to happen inside, so don’t miss anything.
KEEP READING
Former President François Hollande qualified the issue, but called for a faster implementation of the expulsions: “The person in question was convicted, served his sentence, was to be expelled or taken to the border and remain in an administrative detention centre in the meantime. He should have been there, but after a few days the judge allowed him to be placed under house arrest. When someone is released from prison and must be expelled, it must be done as quickly as possible. We are all horrified and we must ask ourselves what happened. Decisions that have already been taken must be implemented more quickly.”
