DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — Two human rights groups have filed a criminal complaint in a Paris court against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is visiting France, after French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed him Thursday evening.
The organization “Democracy Now in the Arab World”, DAWN, said in a statement that it had filed a complaint against Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Paris Court of Trial International, demanding that he be “investigated for the torture and murder” of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the kingdom’s ambassador. . Istanbul in 2018.
The report added that the Saudi crown prince was “involved” in the torture and enforced disappearance of Khashoggi at the Saudi embassy, which are “crimes subject to internal investigations in France”.
“French authorities should immediately open a criminal investigation into Mohammed bin Salman’s role in the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN. He added: “As a party to the United Nations Conventions against Torture and Enforced Disappearances, France has an obligation to try a suspect like Mohammed bin Salman if he is on French soil,” he said.
The statement said French law recognizes “universal jurisdiction” over crimes such as torture and enforced disappearance, and this means that “French judicial authorities in cases of torture and enforced disappearance have the power to investigate these crimes and punish the perpetrators wherever they may be. As long as the suspect remains on French soil.” , regardless of the nationality of the suspects or their victims, they were determined.”
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