The ongoing judicial proceedings that have followed Paris Saint-Germain and Moroccan international defender Achraf Hakimi since 2023 have escalated significantly with the official request from French prosecutors for the player to stand trial on a rape charge.
The request was sent to the investigating judge in charge of the case by the prosecutor’s office in the Paris neighbourhood of Nanterre. Despite Hakimi’s repeated denials, this action indicates that prosecutors believe there is enough evidence to bring the case before a criminal court. The investigating magistrate now has the final say over whether a trial will go forward.
The investigation began when a 24-year-old woman visited a police station in the suburbs of Paris in February 2023. She said that after meeting Hakimi on Instagram, he had assaulted her in his Boulogne-Billancourt residence. Based on her testimony, the prosecutor’s office began an inquiry, despite her initial refusal to submit a formal complaint.
In March 2023, after the preliminary inquiry, Hakimi was charged with rape and placed under judicial supervision. This preliminary charge, as defined by the French legal system, indicates that there is cause to believe that a crime was committed, but it also permits additional investigation before a trial judgment is reached.
Hakimi’s legal team has expressed strong opposition in response to the prosecutors’ latest request. His lawyer, Fanny Colin, described the move as “incomprehensible and senseless in light of the case’s elements.” She stated that both she and Hakimi “remain as calm as we were at the start of the proceedings” and would “obviously pursue all avenues of appeal” if the request for a trial is granted. The defence has previously claimed that the player has been the subject of an “attempted racketeering.”
Meanwhile, the lawyer for the accuser, Rachel-Flore Pardo, welcomed the development, telling a news agency that her client “welcomes this news with immense relief.” Pardo has consistently maintained that her client’s choice was to “confide in justice, and only in justice,” and that the preliminary charges indicated “reliable and consistent evidence.”
