Achraf Hakimi, star defender for PSG and Morocco, charged with rape in France

Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi was given preliminary prices of rape, French prosecutors stated Friday.

The prosecutors’ workplace within the Paris suburb of Nanterre stated Hakimi was questioned on Thursday by investigators probing rape allegations. He was then indicted by an investigating choose and positioned below judicial supervision.

Under French legislation, preliminary prices imply there’s motive to suspect against the law has been dedicated, but it surely permits magistrates extra time to analyze earlier than deciding whether or not to ship the case to trial.

Hakimi’s lawyer, Fanny Colin, stated the participant “strongly denied accusations made against him,” in a written message to The Associated Press.

Colin stated her shopper being indicted is an “obligatory step for any person being accused of rape” and can permit Hakimi to defend himself by giving him entry to the case. Colin additionally stated that some parts collected by the judicial police present, in keeping with her, that Hakimi “in this case has been subjected to a racketeering attempt.”

The Morocco nationwide workforce participant has been prohibited from contacting the alleged sufferer, a 24-year-old lady who says she was raped by Hakimi on Saturday at his house in a Paris suburb. Hakimi is allowed to depart French territory, prosecutors stated.

According to Le Parisien newspaper, which revealed the allegations earlier this week, the lady went to the police station on Sunday, the place she accused him of rape.

The lady’s lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, stated in an announcement that preliminary prices present “there is reliable and consistent evidence.”

“My client made the choice to confide in justice, and only in justice, and will speak only to justice,” she stated in an announcement to the AP. “We won’t tolerate any smear or destabilization campaign [against her].”

The Spanish-born Hakimi is a defender who helped Morocco make World Cup historical past final yr by turning into the primary African workforce to succeed in the match’s semifinals. He was seen coaching with PSG on Friday.

Prosecutors opened their preliminary investigation on Monday.

Hakimi returned to coaching with PSG on Friday after a minor hamstring problem, and he could possibly be within the workforce’s squad to play Bayern Munich on Wednesday within the Champions League.

PSG is scheduled to play Nantes at house on Saturday within the French league.

At a information convention on Friday, PSG coach Christophe Galtier stated he would “answer no questions of a non-sporting nature [relating to] Achraf Hakimi.”

Galtier stated he hoped Hakimi might prepare with the remainder of the workforce “to be available” to play towards Bayern Munich on Wednesday within the second leg of the spherical of 16.

“The players were hard-working and serious,” Galtier stated when requested what the temper was like at coaching given the case.

Hakimi appeared on stage on the FIFA Awards in Paris on Monday. He was honored as a part of the player-voted males’s all-star workforce and was greeted by transient, loud applause when launched.

Reporting by the Associated Press.

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