A man suspected of being a member of the commando team involved in the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 was arrested Tuesday morning at the Parisian airport of Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle and placed in judicial detention. The Saudi Arabian embassy in Paris demanded his “immediate release” in the evening, arguing that the national “has no connection with this case”.
The man, who presented a passport in the name of Khalid Alotaibi, 33, was arrested by border police as he was about to take a flight to Riyadh, a source familiar with the matter said. At the time of his passage through control, the Interpol red notice targeting him was activated, according to the same source.
Checks were still underway Tuesday evening to ensure his identity and that the arrest warrant applies to the man arrested, according to another source close to the case, which emphasizes that his detention can last 48 hours.
“The citizen in question has no connection with the case,” said the Saudi embassy in France on Twitter, adding that the “guilty of the murder” have already been tried in Saudi Arabia and “are serving” their sentences there. .
The man arrested was placed in judicial detention as part of an international arrest warrant issued by Turkey, said a source in the justice system.
But according to a source belonging to the Saudi security services, “the real Khaled Alotaibi and all the accused in this case are imprisoned within the Saudi kingdom”.
On the other hand, if his identity was indeed confirmed at the end of his detention, he should be presented to the public prosecutor’s office of the Paris Court of Appeal, which should notify him of the arrest warrant.
He could then refuse his extradition to Turkey. In this case, the French justice could ask that he remain in France, free, under judicial control or under extradition detention, the time that Turkey makes a request for extradition. In a few weeks, the court of appeal should then rule on the extradition request.
Khalid Alotaibi is suspected of having been part of a commando group of ten Saudis sent to the Istanbul consulate on October 2, 2018 to “execute” Khashoggi and “conceal the evidence” of the murder, according to documents from the British governments and American consulted by AFP.
Expected reunion
This arrest comes three days after the meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed ben Salman in Jeddah.
The reunion with the strongman of Riyadh, “MBS”, was eagerly awaited, three years after the shock caused by the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.
“We talked about everything without any taboos. And we were obviously able to evoke the question of human rights […] and it was a direct exchange, ”said Emmanuel Macron. “The coming weeks and months will allow us to see if we move forward on this subject. “