If Mohammed Ben Salmane is received for dinner by Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace this Thursday evening, it is above all to discuss the country’s oil production, one of the leading exporters of black gold, in the midst of soaring oil prices. ‘energy. But the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a critic of power and killed in 2018 at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey, also risks being invited to the discussion table, four years after the events and while the visit of ” MBS” in France is controversial.
A 42-page complaint for complicity in torture and enforced disappearance
Human rights defenders, the fiancée of Jamal Khasshoggi and several political figures have already expressed their indignation regarding this visit. To drive the point home, two NGOs have decided to file a complaintthis Thursday, against Mohammed Ben Salman in person for this assassination. The complaint, for complicity in torture and enforced disappearance, was filed this Thursday in Paris, by Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), founded by the Saudi journalist, and Trial International.
It totals 42 pages, and claims that Mohammed Bin Salman “is an accomplice in the torture and enforced disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018”, and that he “does not enjoy immunity from prosecution because, as crown prince, he is not head of state”.
Can the complaint be examined by France?
This complaint with civil action was filed with the dean of the investigating judges of the Paris court on Thursday morning, the NGO lawyer told AFP. This procedure leads to the quasi-systematic opening of a judicial investigation and the appointment of an investigating judge.
“In application of the universal jurisdiction made possible by the conventions against torture and enforced disappearances, the French courts are competent to open a judicial investigation against any suspect who is on national territory at the time the complaint is filed”, regardless of where the alleged crimes were committed, added the lawyer.
But at first, thehe French justice must ensure that France has jurisdiction, the imputability of the facts to the person concerned and the existence or not of immunity for this person, before initiating investigations.