Versailles Court of Appeal Confirms Hakimi's Referral to Trial for Rape

The Versailles Court of Appeal rejected on Friday Achraf Hakimi’s appeal against his committal order. The judges found that the charges gathered were sufficient to justify a referral to the departmental criminal court, dismissing the no-case submission filed by the Paris Saint-Germain defender’s lawyer.

In February, the investigating judge had already decided to refer Hakimi to this court, following the prosecution’s recommendations. The decision of the investigating chamber confirms this direction: the player will indeed stand trial.

The case dates back to 25 February 2023, when a young woman went to the Nogent-sur-Marne police station to file a report. She accused the Moroccan international of digital penetration against her will at his home, where she had gone after several weeks of exchanges on Instagram. Hakimi has always denied any act of penetration, acknowledging only consensual embraces and kisses.

His lawyer, Me Fanny Colin, strongly contested the decision: “A trial is ordered in the presence of an accusation that rests solely on the word of a woman who has obstructed all investigations, who refused all medical examinations and DNA tests, who refused the exploitation of her mobile phone, who refused to give the name of a key witness. A woman whose two successive psychological assessments revealed a lack of clarity about the facts she claims to denounce, and furthermore the absence of any post-traumatic symptom.”

Hakimi himself reacted in a statement: “Today an accusation of rape is enough to justify a trial even though I contest it and everything shows it is false. It is as unjust for the innocent as for genuine victims. I await this trial with calm, which will allow the truth to come to light publicly.”

The player is currently in Morocco to compete in the World Cup, which did not prevent the judicial proceedings from taking their course.