French court confirms rape trial for PSG and Morocco star Hakimi

A French court on Wednesday upheld a decision to send Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco footballer Achraf Hakimi to trial on rape charges, a judicial source told AFP.

An appeals court confirmed on June 19, during the World Cup, that Hakimi would stand trial in criminal court over the alleged rape of a woman in 2023, an accusation he has repeatedly denied.

Hakimi, 27, had appealed that decision to the Court of Cassation, the highest court in the French judicial system for civil and criminal matters.

The appeal was Hakimi's final legal recourse. In February, he was ordered to stand trial before the criminal court in the Hauts-de-Seine department on the rape charge.

Hakimi challenged that initial order and then appealed to the Court of Cassation after the Versailles appeals court upheld the decision in June.

"The allegations against Achraf Hakimi, which he has firmly contested from day one, have not been examined by the Court of Cassation," the player's lawyer, Fanny Colin, told AFP.

"They will be during the trial, at which all the evidence in Achraf Hakimi's defence will be presented publicly," the lawyer continued.

She added her client, "who has nothing to hide", had fully cooperated with police and judicial authorities throughout the investigation and would continue to do so during the forthcoming trial.

A lawyer for the plaintiff said the decision to send the case to trial reflected the "strength and rigour of the court of appeal's reasoning".

"After three and a half years of legal battles, after being slandered and dragged through the mud by Achraf Hakimi's defence, my client is determined to obtain justice; she will fight to the very end," the woman's lawyer, Rachel-Flore Pardo, said in a statement sent to AFP.

In February 2023, a woman then aged 24 told police in the Val-de-Marne region southeast of Paris that Hakimi had raped her.

The plaintiff said she met Hakimi in January 2023 on Instagram and went to his home in a taxi ordered by the player, a police source said at the time.

She claimed the player kissed her, touched her without her consent and then raped her.

She said she managed to push him away and text a friend, who came to pick her up.

Hakimi was charged with rape a few days later.

PSG said Hakimi "has always firmly denied the allegations against him" and continued to benefit from the presumption of innocence.

"The club is committed to ensuring a calm and respectful working environment for its player, in accordance with the fundamental principles of the rule of law," PSG said in a statement to AFP.

The French champions also reiterated "their constant and unequivocal commitment to combating all forms of violence, particularly sexual violence."