Official request to refer Achraf Hakimi to criminal trial

The public prosecutor’s office in Nanterre (located in the western suburbs of the French capital, Paris) requested on Friday that Moroccan international Achraf Hakimi, a Paris Saint-Germain player, be referred to criminal court.

The Nanterre prosecutor’s request against Hakimi stems from his accusation of raping a young woman in 2023, a charge the player denies, according to a statement from the public prosecutor’s office to Agence France-Presse.

Confirming information published by Le Parisien, the public prosecutor’s office stated: “The Nanterre public prosecutor’s office today (Friday) referred the case to the investigating judge in charge of the rape case, with the aim of referring the accused to the Hauts-de-Seine Regional Criminal Court. It is now up to the investigating judge to make his decision within the framework of the judicial referral order.”

Hakimi, 26, was investigated for rape and placed under judicial supervision in March 2023, after a young woman accused him of raping her at his home in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine) a few days earlier.

The 24-year-old woman initially went to a police station in Val-de-Marne in late February 2023, where she reported being raped without filing a formal complaint.

She said she met Hakimi in January 2023 on Instagram and then went to his house after being picked up by the player in a private car with a driver, according to a police source at the time.

She reported that Hakimi kissed and groped her without her consent before raping her, according to the same source, which he denies.

She added that she was able to push him away, noting that she contacted a friend via text message, who came to pick her up.

The player’s lawyer, Fanny Colin, described the prosecutor’s requests to AFP as “incomprehensible and illogical given the evidence in the case.”

“Ashraf and I remain as calm as we were when the proceedings began. If these requests proceed, we will certainly pursue all legal avenues to appeal,” she continued.

“My client received this news with great relief,” Rachelle-Fleur Bardot, the young woman’s lawyer, told AFP.