Hiba Abouk speaks for the first time after the accusation of her husband, Achraf Hakimi, for rape: "I will always be on the side of the victims"

“I have needed time to digest this

”.

Those are the words with which the actress Hiba Abouk (Madrid, 35 years old) explains the silence that she has kept for a month since, on February 27, the Prosecutor's Office of the French city of Nanterre opened an investigation against her husband, Paris Saint-Germain footballer Achraf Hakimi, 24, after receiving a report of rape by a woman his own age.

A few days later an official accusation came from the same Prosecutor's Office.

Throughout this month not only Hakimi has remained silent, but also around him.

His parents and siblings, residents of Getafe (Madrid), have not spoken a word about him.

But attention has fallen especially on the Madrid actress of Tunisian-Libyan origin, her wife since the summer of 2019 and mother of her two children, Amin, three years old, and Naím, 13 months old.

During these weeks, Abouk has remained silent.

Until now.

This Monday, the interpreter has broken her silence through a statement to which EL PAÍS has had access.

In this way, she wanted to express her "state of mind" and "clarify in the first person the erroneous information that circulates," she says.

The protagonist of the series

He admits that "on certain sensitive topics or issues silence can be favourable", but that, a month after the event that has turned his life upside down and that of his two children (whom he seeks to protect, above all else), he felt a "peremptory need" to explain himself, also to resume his "personal, public and professional life in the least damaging and traumatic way possible".

During these weeks the actress has taken refuge in her friends and she has lived between Paris (where she lived) and Madrid (where she was when the news broke).

More information

Achraf Hakimi, the footballer born in the Gregorio Marañón who reached the top of Morocco

In his letter, Abouk affirms that he has broken his relationship with Hakimi, but that this decision is not caused by recent events, but rather prior to the accusation of the footballer: "Long before the events in which I have been involved mediatically and of which I am totally oblivious”.

In addition, the interpreter speaks of the total ignorance of these facts and the hard blow that they have caused, even more so when she is immersed in a separation process after five years of relationship, almost three years of marriage and two small children in common.

“After making the decision to legally separate and stop living together, pending the divorce proceedings, who would have imagined that in addition to facing the well-known pain that a separation entails,

Particularly noteworthy is Abouk's position on the footballer's accusation.

Although he affirms that "it remains to trust in the good conduct of justice", especially "given the seriousness of the accusation", and clarifies: "It goes without saying that in my life I have always been and will always be on the side of the victims".

Since the beginning of her career, the actress has been a constant activist for human rights and refugees.

Her parents, of Tunisian and Libyan origin, arrived in Spain in 1975 and she has affirmed that thanks to the reception that was given in the country then, both to them and, later, to her, they have been able to develop her career. .

But she also recognizes what she suffered, such as even being recommended to change her name, she assured in an interview with this newspaper.

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A post shared by Hiba Abouk (@hiba_abouk_)

In his statement, he ends with a request to respect his privacy and, especially, that of his two minor children, given the "delicate circumstances", and he also thanks all those who have "shown their support, affection and I respect".

The soccer player, star of the Moroccan soccer team, and the actress met in mid-2018, and soon their relationship jumped to the media when some photos were leaked together in the Maldives.

In February 2020, the interpreter gave birth to her first child, and shortly after she told that they had married a few months before.

Two years and one day later the second child was born.

She lived on horseback between Madrid and Paris, where Hakimi lived after passing through Real Madrid, a team in which the winger was a youth player, and who sent him first to Borussia Dortmund and then went to Inter Milan after being sold for 45 million euros. euro.

The couple had become the protagonist of the social chronicle and prominent representatives of the success of the second generation of North African immigrants,

Hakimi is awaiting trial.

In March, his lawyer told this newspaper that the accusation offered him the possibility of defending himself and accessing the details of the case.

He also assured that everything is an extortion attempt, and denied the accusations by which a woman assures that the sports star —whom she met in the summer through Instagram— came to her house in mid-February in a vehicle Uber paid by Hakimi.

Once there, according to the newspaper

, who advanced the story, he "lifted her clothes, kissed her breasts despite her protests, and she also affirms that the athlete committed penetration with his fingers despite her protests."

She sent a message to a friend to pick her up and a day later she went to a police station, although she did not want to file a complaint, until shortly after the French Prosecutor's Office decided to open an investigation on her behalf.

The complete letter of Hiba Abouk

Today I feel duty-bound to make this statement public to express my state of mind and clarify first-hand the misinformation that is circulating.

And even when silence can help on certain sensitive topics or issues, I have an urgent need to explain myself, in order to be able to resume my personal, public and professional life in the least harmful and traumatic way possible, protecting my children above all who They are, how can it be otherwise, my absolute priority.

The reality is that it was some time ago that, after thinking about it a lot, the father of my children and I made the decision to end our relationship, long before the events in which I have been involved in the media and which I am totally oblivious.

After making the decision to legally separate and stop living together, pending the divorce proceedings, who would have imagined that in addition to facing the well-known pain that a separation entails, and accepting the grief that the failure of a family project entails to whom I had given myself body and soul, I would have to face this ignominy.

I have needed time to digest this

.

It goes without saying that in my life I have always been and will always be on the side of the victims, therefore, given the seriousness of the accusation, we can only trust in the proper conduct of justice.

I beg you to respect my privacy and that of my children in these delicate circumstances.

Thank you to all the people who have shown me their support, affection and respect.