The case accusing Moroccan international defender Achraf Hakimi of raping a 24-year-old woman has resurfaced, after the two faced each other for the first time in a French court. The public prosecutor's office in Nanterre, near Paris, announced that the Paris Saint-Germain football player faced the woman who accused him of rape last Friday. The prosecutor's statement said, "A confrontation occurred on Friday morning between the accused and the victim," who accused him of raping her in March.
Hakimi was absent from his team's training that morning "for personal reasons," according to a club statement. This confrontation comes just a few days ahead of a crucial match for PSG in the UEFA Champions League group stage, where they need to win against their German hosts Borussia Dortmund to qualify for the round of 16. Additionally, Hakimi is awaiting the African Football Confederation (CAF) awards ceremony, which will take place tonight in Marrakech, Morocco, where he is competing with Nigerian Victor Osimhen and Egyptian Mohamed Salah for the African Player of the Year award.
On March 3, an examining magistrate charged Hakimi with rape and placed him under judicial supervision. A few days prior, a young woman accused him of raping her at his home. The victim's lawyer, Rachel Flor Bardo, confirmed to the French news agency that "my client maintains all her statements and has become a civil party in this case." A police source clarified in March that the young woman said she met Hakimi in January through Instagram and later went to his house in a taxi called by the player. The source added that the girl claims Hakimi kissed and touched her without her consent before raping her, and that she managed to push him away and texted a friend who came to pick her up.
On the other hand, Hakimi's lawyer, Fanny Collin, later confirmed that the allegations are "false." She stated in a press release that Hakimi's summons for questioning provided him with "finally the opportunity to defend himself, especially to be informed about the case." Hakimi's lawyer subsequently emphasized that the player "strongly denies" these accusations and that he has been "the subject of an extortion attempt" in this case.
