French Judge to Investigate Complaint Against Saudi Crown Prince Over Khashoggi Killing

A French investigative magistrate is set to investigate a complaint filed by rights groups against Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, Mohammed Bin Salman, over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The probe follows a decision by the court of appeal that ruled in favor of the rights groups.

French sources told AFP on Saturday that a Paris magistrate will investigate the assassination of the Saudi dissident journalist. Khashoggi was a U.S. resident who wrote critically about Saudi Arabia for The Washington Post. He was strangled and dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

The complaint was first filed by Khashoggi's employer, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), and the rights group Trial International during Mohammed Bin Salman's visit to France in July 2022. They were later joined by the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders.

The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office confirmed that an investigating judge from the crimes against humanity unit will examine the complaint for torture and enforced disappearances. The office had previously opposed opening a case in France on admissibility grounds.

After years of legal wrangling, the court of appeal ruled in the rights groups' favor on the question of admissibility. This decision allows the judicial investigation to proceed. A lawyer for Reporters Without Borders stated that the crime against Khashoggi was decided and planned at the highest level of the Saudi state.

Lawyers for the groups said there should no longer be any obstacle to opening a judicial investigation. The 2018 killing drew widespread international attention after U.S. intelligence agencies assessed that the crown prince was directly responsible for it.