Achraf Hakimi Facing France's Independent, Upright Justice
It's the prosecutor's office that decided on the referral. However, in France, the prosecutor's office is considered a judicial authority, but remains under the hierarchical supervision of the Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice.
The question here is simply to know whether or not the current minister, Gérald Darmanin, is informed of this referral decision. Given Achraf Hakimi's status as a key PSG player and captain of the Moroccan national team, we can suppose: yes, Darmanin is well informed.
However, if we suppose yes, it would be surprising by such an attitude coming from a man who says of himself a friend of Morocco, and it's not about discharging a guilty person, but simply being fair.
Alas…Even the state channel France24 sponsored a Facebook post with an explicit title: 'Trial for rape requested against Hakimi.' No nuance, nothing!
If there is unanimity or almost unanimity of Moroccan public opinion around this Hakimi affair and on a possible manipulation of justice to discredit the footballer, it's because the timing of this decision is quite strange; indeed, the Ballon d'Or award for which the Moroccan is nominated occurs in a few weeks, and people quickly thought that this whole affair is 'staged' to favor Achraf Hakimi's teammate, namely Ousmane Dembélé.
Moroccans are right to wonder: what happened since February 2023, the month this affair occurred, to convince the prosecutor to refer the player to the criminal chamber, where he risks 15 years in prison?
Not much, and according to L'Equipe, the text messages exchanged by the alleged victim point toward an extortion attempt conducted against the Moroccan footballer. This is what makes his defense say that the prosecutor's requisitions are 'incomprehensible and senseless in light of the case file elements.'
We remember that for another affair, that of Saâd Lemjarred, Moroccan public opinion was divided between the fans and unconditional supporters of the singer accused of rape and others, who support that justice must prevail. In that affair, the rape was established and the Moroccan public, despite the irreducible and intractable admirers, accepted the judges' verdict.
For Hakimi, things are different. Nothing is established, apart from doubtful behavior from the person who presents herself as a victim. But let's reassure ourselves, French justice is independent and suffers neither pressure nor passion, in its affairs with Morocco, with the world, or with France… Eric Laurent and Catherine Graciet Case. Two proven blackmailers, recorded, caught red-handed, who confessed their blackmail enterprise against the King of Morocco, were condemned to a light sentence. Eight years after the facts, despite all the evidence. The case is on appeal. Independent and upright justice will rule in October 2025. Moroccan State Case against French press organizations. In 2021, several French media and NGOs had accused Morocco of using Pegasus software to spy on practically the entire earth, including Emmanuel Macron, European dignitaries… Obviously, they provide no other proof than their usual offended condescension.
Morocco goes to court and is dismissed in criminal court, on appeal, and in cassation. The reason? It's drawn from a law from… 1881, which stipulates that a State cannot be assimilated to a private individual and therefore cannot initiate a defamation action against press organs. Independent and upright justice has ruled… Omar Raddad Case. He did nothing other than being Moroccan, a gardener, and barely literate. Everything — absolutely everything — shows and substantiates his innocence, but he remains condemned, not rehabilitated, despite the doubts, DNA, and the assaults by Raddad's lawyers. Independent and upright justice 'killed him.'
…without counting the numerous 'little judges' who worked and tried to make a name for themselves by 'taking down a Moroccan,' some having plunged into the Benbarka affair, others in the curious summons of Abdellatif Hammouchi in 2014… François Fillon Case. Very complex, this case made its main protagonist say it was an 'institutional coup d'état,' where the National Financial Prosecutor's Office, presented as the armed wing of political power, would have been instrumentalized to prevent the former prime minister from conducting, and perhaps winning, the 2017 presidential election.
He was very opportunely accused one month before the election. Since then, independent and upright justice has been maneuvering, tackled by the Constitutional Council and mistreated by François Fillon's scandalized lawyers. Marine Le Pen Case. This somewhat recalls the Fillon file…While a third of the French electorate demands her, justice very heavily condemns Marine Le Pen, prison, ineligibility, fine…Even the prosecutor, in a moment of inattention and according to National Rally people, would have recognized having nothing real to reproach her for. But the independent and upright judges don't see Marine Le Pen at the Élysée, that's all. Tarik Ramadan Case. The Swiss theologian had been prosecuted for several rape accusations, based on text messages exchanged between him and his alleged victims, 10 years earlier. Simple question: how, who has an interest, and who can bring out text messages that are a decade old? In the end, Ramadan had been cleared of all rape accusations, but adultery, although consensual, definitively tainted Tarik Ramadan's reputation as a prudish man. Independent and upright justice passed, Ramadan (morally) passed away.Judges who pursued, hunted, mistreated, humiliated a former President of the Republic, who had certainly qualified them one day of wandering as 'petits pois' (insignificant), and condemned him solely for money questions. Very well, but then why don't these same judges even dare to think of going after genociders like Netanyahu or Gallant, Ben Gvir, or Smotrich, to name only the current ones? French justice must have forgotten for a moment that it is independent and upright. Foreign Heads of State and dignitaries. French justice, in all ethics and independence, multiplies trials for ill-gotten goods or crimes against humanity… against Africans. But nothing against Tony Blair and George Bush, who nevertheless recognized their lies in 2003 before attacking Iraq, and even less against Israeli killers or others too, who maintain good diplomatic relations with their country; Netanyahu, sought by the International Criminal Court, even flew over French territory, but the independent and upright judges must have been thinking of something else…Would French justice only be independent and upright with variable geometry, with specific geography? Does it function on juridical logic or according to an ideological approach?
We could fill entire pages with cases like these, but things are sufficiently clear.
In short… Let's return to La Fontaine: 'Depending on whether you are powerful or miserable, court judgments will render you white or black.' Concretely, according to French researchers, in 'the penal response' (Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2013), 'the least favored are more heavily condemned,' and this goes back to Jean Valjean in Les Misérables, and was also confirmed later during the Dreyfus affair.
For Achraf Hakimi, the 'victim's' text messages are clear and show an extortion intent, and her behavior is doubtful. We can therefore only be optimistic and reassured, or not, for our national champion, faced with the guarantees presented by independent and upright French justice… But he remains our national champion, smiling, empathetic and upright… and his file for this rape is as devoid of evidence as the independent and upright French judges are of remorse. Tags: Achraf HakimiHakimi France justiceHakimi rape case
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