paris saint germain and the Moroccan defender Achraf Hakimi His lawyer told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he has been ordered to stand trial in the rape case.
Hakimi’s lawyer Fanny Collin said he would appeal the judge’s decision to follow the recommendation of the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office, which called for the athlete to stand trial last August.
Collin said a trial date has not yet been set.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Rachel Flore Pardo, told the AP that her client is “comforted” and welcomes the order to send the case to trial, adding that it is “fully consistent with the evidence in the file.”
Hakimi, one of the world’s best defense lawyers, denies wrongdoing and told X that he is “quietly waiting” for a trial in which “the truth will come out publicly.”
“Today, a rape accusation is enough to warrant a trial, even if I dispute it and show everything that it is false. This is as unfair to innocent people as it is to the real victim,” he said on the eve of the important verdict. champions league playoffs Match against Monaco.
Hakimi was charged with preliminary rape in March 2023 after being accused by a 24-year-old woman. She said Hakimi raped her at his home in a Paris suburb. In the French legal system, a preliminary indictment means that a judge allows time for further investigation before deciding whether to send a case to trial, even though there are strong reasons to suspect that a crime has been committed.
“A trial was ordered based on the solely verbal accusations of a woman who obstructed all investigations, refused all medical examinations and DNA tests, denied access to her cell phone, and refused to reveal the names of key witnesses,” Collin said.
Collin argued that two consecutive psychiatric evaluations of the complainant “revealed that she was not clear about the facts of her allegations and that she did not exhibit any post-traumatic symptoms.”
Pardo said in a statement that if the justice system was exemplary in this case, “the widespread response to this case is a reminder that there are still environments in which the Me Too movement has not been able to break the sound barrier, most notably in the world of men’s professional football.”
PSG coach Luis Enrique was asked at a press conference on Tuesday ahead of the game against Monaco whether there would be any changes to the team due to Hakimi’s incident and whether he would remain as vice-captain. Luis Enrique said only: “This is the jurisdiction of the judicial system.”
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AP Sports Writer Jérôme Pugmire in Paris contributed to this report.
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AP Sports: https://apnews.com/Sports
