The Saudi crown prince is accused of “complicity in torture and forced disappearance” of the journalist murdered in 2018 in Istanbul (Turkey).
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The day was not chosen at random. While waiting for the Saudi Crown Prince to dine with President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace on Thursday July 28, two NGOs filed a complaint against him Thursday morning. Mohammed Ben Salmane (MBS) is accused of complicity in torture and enforced disappearance in connection with the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in Istanbul (Turkey).
The 42-page document claims that MBS “does not enjoy immunity from prosecution because, as crown prince, he is not head of state”specify the NGO Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), founded by jamal Khashoggi, and Trial International in a press release. The complaint with civil action was filed with the dean of the investigating judges of the Paris court, NGO lawyer Me Henri Thulliez told AFP.
“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, according to the lawyer.
Joining the anger of human rights defenders, the fiancée of the late journalist said to herself “scandalized and outraged that Emmanuel Macron receives with all honors the executioner of (her) fiancé”, Hatice Cengiz told AFP on Thursday. The crown prince, he had denied having ordered the assassination, even if he said to bear the responsibility for it as a leader.