While the crime itself caused shock, the case has become a political issue since the arrest of a suspect on Tuesday evening. The 22-year-old is a convicted rapist who was due to be deported after his release from prison, but was released due to mishaps.
After heavy criticism of the functioning of the justice system by politicians from different camps, France’s new Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who had just taken office, announced that he would take action. “It is up to us, those in public positions of responsibility, to reject fate and develop our legal system to protect the French,” said the conservative minister. “If we have to change the rules, then we will change them.” It is about “ensuring the safety of our compatriots.”
“Our justice system is lax”
“If you have someone in custody who you believe poses a threat to French society, you shouldn’t have to release them before you even have the certainty that they can be deported,” Socialist leader Olivier Faure told broadcaster BFMTV. “Our justice system is lax, our state doesn’t work, our politicians let the French live with human bombs,” reacted the chairman of the right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National, Jordan Bardella. The administration and the justice system are working far too slowly when it comes to deportations, said former Socialist President François Hollande to broadcaster France Info.
The 19-year-old Filipino woman was reported missing by her parents on Friday. Friends and relatives discovered the dead woman half buried the next day after locating her cell phone during a privately organized search operation.
Rape of a student 2019
The suspect had served a prison sentence for the rape of another student in 2019 and was to be deported to his country of origin after his release. First, the wrong authority applied for the necessary papers, then a judge ordered the man’s early release from deportation detention.
The suspect did not comply with the requirement to report to the police regularly. After the crime, he was arrested in Geneva, Switzerland.
