AP
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Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi has been ordered to stand trial in a rape case, attorneys instructed the Associated Press on Tuesday.
Hakimi’s lawyer Fanny Colin mentioned she is going to appeal the decide’s resolution that adopted suggestions from the Nanterre public prosecutor’s workplace, which final August referred to as for the participant to stand trial.
Colin mentioned a date for the trial has not been set.
Rachel-Flore Pardo, who represents the plaintiff, instructed the AP her shopper welcomed the order committing the case to trial “with relief,” including it “is fully consistent with the evidence in the file.”
Hakimi, among the finest defenders in the world, has denied any wrongdoing and said on X he “calmly awaits” a trial that “will allow the truth to emerge publicly.”
“Today, an accusation of rape is enough to justify a trial, even though I contest it and everything shows that it is false. This is as unjust for the innocent as it is for genuine victims,” he mentioned on the eve of a vital Champions League playoff towards Monaco.
Hakimi was given preliminary expenses of rape in March 2023 after a 24-year-old lady accused him. She mentioned she was raped by Hakimi at his dwelling in a Paris suburb. In the French authorized system, preliminary expenses imply judges have robust motive to suspect a criminal offense was dedicated however are permitting time for additional investigation earlier than deciding whether or not to ship a case to trial.
“A trial has been ordered based on an accusation that rests solely on the word of a woman who obstructed all investigations, refused all medical examinations and DNA testing, refused access to her mobile phone, and refused to provide the name of a key witness,” Colin mentioned.
Colin claimed that two successive psychological assessments of the plaintiff “revealed a lack of clarity regarding the facts she claims to denounce, as well as the absence of any post-traumatic symptoms.”
In her assertion, Pardo mentioned if the justice system has been exemplary in this case, “the broader handling of this affair serves as a reminder of one thing: There remain environments where the Me Too movement has yet to break the sound barrier, chief among them the world of men’s professional football.”
PSG coach Luis Enrique was requested in a information convention on Tuesday forward of the Monaco match whether or not Hakimi’s case adjustments something for the workforce and whether or not he stays the vice captain. Luis Enrique mentioned solely, “This is in the hands of the justice system.”