The Moroccan PSG player, Achraf Hakimi, will be tried in France for the rape of a young woman in February 2023, as reported this Tuesday (24) by the player’s lawyer and the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Nanterre, north of the French capital.
“Today, an accusation of rape is enough to justify a trial, even if I deny it and everything indicates that it is false”, the player reacted to X.
“I calmly await this trial, which will allow the truth to come to light,” added the 27-year-old Moroccan player.
At the end of February 2023, the 24-year-old woman (the same age as the player at the time) went to a police station, where she reported having been raped at Hakimi’s house in Boulogne-Billancourt (a suburb of Paris), but without registering a formal complaint.
She explained that she met Achraf Hakimi in January 2023 on Instagram and went to his house in an application car requested by the player, a police source indicated at the time.
The woman claimed that Hakimi kissed and touched her without her consent before raping her, according to the same source.
In March 2023, the player was charged with rape and placed under police control.
Last resort
“A trial is ordered based on an accusation based solely on the word of a woman who placed obstacles in the way of all investigations, who refused all medical examinations and DNA searches, who refused to have her cell phone analyzed and to give the name of a key witness,” the player’s lawyer, Fanny Colin, told AFP on Tuesday.
The lawyer added that she will appeal the French court’s decision. If the appeal is denied, the player will be judged on a date yet to be defined.
“After three years of legal battles, my client is relieved with the formal accusation against Achraf Hakimi”, reacted the victim’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo.
The lawyer considers that this decision “is perfectly consistent with the elements of the case and with the requests of the prosecutor”, who in August had requested the player’s indictment before the departmental criminal court.
However, the player’s defense argues that the victim’s “two psychological evaluations” revealed a lack of clarity regarding the events she claims to be reporting and emphasizes, in particular, that she tried to hide from the judicial authorities several messages exchanged with a friend, in which they planned to “pluck” Hakimi.
“Exemplary” justice
For Rachel-Flore, on the other hand, the judicial system has been “exemplary” in handling this case. “There are still areas where the MeToo movement has not broken through the sound barrier, and the world of men’s football is at the forefront of this,” he added.
“We await this trial with determination and combativeness so that justice is done”, concluded Hakimi’s lawyer.
Trained at Real Madrid, with spells at Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan and a pillar of the Morocco national team, semi-finalist at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the player arrived at PSG in 2021, where he is currently the second captain, behind the Brazilian Marquinhos.
Son of a cleaning lady and a street vendor, both Moroccan and living in Spain since the 1980s, the player was born in the city of Getafe, on the outskirts of Madrid.
Known for his speed, his verticality and his passes, he is considered one of the best right-backs in the world.
This Tuesday, the player trained with apparent normality with his teammates in the session prior to the second leg of the qualifying playoff for the round of 16 of the Champions League, in which PSG will defend a 3-2 lead against Monaco at the Parc des Princes, in the French capital.
When contacted, the club has not yet commented on the news.
