Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi has publicly addressed the r@pe allegations made against him in France.
French prosecutors have called for Hakimi to face trial for the alleged rape of a woman in 2023, an accusation the 26-year-old has vehemently denied.
Earlier this month, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office confirmed to AFP that they had requested the investigating judge to refer the rape charge to a criminal court.
‘It is now up to the investigating magistrate to make a decision within the framework of his order,’ the prosecutor’s office told AFP in a statement.
Hakimi was charged with r@pe on March 3, 2023, and bailed under police supervision.
However, speaking to Canal+ this week, Hakimi said the allegation was ‘false’.
‘I’m calm. This false accusation was horrible, unfair,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, it’s not right. I know the truth will come out.
‘I don’t blame myself for anything, those who know me know that. I’m calm and I’m focusing on the more important things in my life: family, football.’
If convicted, Moroccan international Hakimi faces up to 15 years in prison, the maximum sentence for non-aggravated r@pe in France.
The accusation was made after an alleged incident on February 25, 2023.
According to Le Parisien, a 24-year-old woman told police she had met Hakimi on Instagram that January, before they exchanged messages over the course of a month.
Hakimi is then alleged to have ordered her an Uber to his home in Boulogne-Billancourt, while his wife, actress Hiba Abouk, was on holiday in Dubai.
Abouk began divorce proceedings against Hakimi in 2023.
The woman alleged Hakimi proceeded to kiss her mouth and breasts through her clothing, despite her protests. She claimed he then ass@ulted her without consent.
She is said to have told police that she was able to push him away with her foot before fleeing and texting a friend to pick her up. The woman visited a police station the same day to make a ‘statement of r@pe’ but initially did not file a formal complaint.
On March 3, Hakimi was charged with r@pe and placed under judicial supervision.
His lawyer, Fanny Colin, said the call by prosecutors for a trial was ‘incomprehensible and senseless in light of the case’s elements’. She went on to add: ‘If these requisitions were to be followed, we would obviously pursue all avenues of appeal.’
The lawyer representing the woman said the news came as an ‘immense relief’.
Hakimi previously insisted the case was simply an attempt to blackmail him.
Speaking during an interview in January, he said: ‘The truth is that when you are successful and things are going well, you become an easy target for certain people, and that taught me that you can’t trust many people around you.
‘They wanted to blackmail me and that’s why we filed a complaint and it’s going well. The justice system handled things rather well.’
