Steph Deschamps / July 29, 2022
A complaint for complicity in torture and enforced disappearance in connection with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was filed Thursday in Paris against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmane (MBS), who was visiting France, two NGOs and their French lawyer announced.
The 42-page complaint claims that MBS is an accomplice in the torture and enforced disappearance of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, and that he does not have immunity from prosecution because, as crown prince, he is not a head of state, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), which was founded by the Saudi journalist, and Trial International said in a statement.
The 42-page complaint claims that MBS is an accomplice in the torture and enforced disappearance of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, and that he does not have immunity from prosecution because, as crown prince, he is not a head of state, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), which was founded by the Saudi journalist, and Trial International said in a statement.
The complaint with civil party was filed with the doyen of the investigating judges of the judicial court of Paris on Thursday morning, said the lawyer of NGOs, Mr. Henri Thulliez. 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 crimes denounced were committed, the lawyer added.
In the first instance, the French justice system must ensure that France has jurisdiction, that the acts are attributable to the person concerned and whether or not the latter has immunity before initiating investigations.
Emmanuel Macron is due to receive MBS, the de facto ruler of the Saudi kingdom, on Thursday for a working dinner scheduled for 8:30 p.m. at the Elysée Palace. The presence in France of the crown prince, whose first visit to Europe since the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, has raised the ire of human rights activists.