A French investigating judge will examine a complaint accusing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of involvement in the 2018 killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said on Saturday.
The complaint was lodged by the rights groups Trial International and Reporters Without Borders during a visit by Prince Mohammed to France in July 2022. A judge from the prosecutor’s crimes-against-humanity division will investigate allegations of torture and enforced disappearance.
The inquiry follows a ruling on May 11 by the Paris Court of Appeal, which overturned earlier objections from prosecutors who had argued that the rights groups could not legally bring such a complaint before French courts.
The prosecutor’s office stressed that the opening of an inquiry does not amount to charges against Prince Mohammed, nor a finding of responsibility. An investigating judge will assess whether the complaint can lead to further proceedings.
Khashoggi, a Saudi national and Washington Post columnist, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 to collect documents for his marriage. He never emerged. Turkish investigators concluded he was killed and dismembered inside the building by a team of Saudi agents.
A US intelligence assessment released in 2021 concluded that Prince Mohammed had approved an operation to capture or kill Khashoggi. Saudi Arabia has denied that the crown prince ordered the killing and has prosecuted a number of lower-level officials.
The French inquiry is among the few active legal efforts internationally to examine the role of the most senior Saudi leadership in the case, and is likely to strain relations between Paris and Riyadh.