Paris, France – In a significant legal development that could reopen one of the most sensitive political cases on the international stage, French judicial sources told AFP on Saturday that a judge with broad powers in Paris will lead a comprehensive criminal investigation into the 2018 assassination of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This decision comes after years of legal wrangling and follows a formal complaint filed by international human rights organizations against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The complaint accuses him of responsibility for torture and enforced disappearance.
Khashoggi, a resident of the United States who wrote scathing opinion pieces critical of Riyadh’s policies for The Washington Post, was strangled to death. His body was then dismembered inside the Saudi diplomatic mission.
A coalition of human rights organizations breaks the immunity
The roots of this legal breakthrough in France can be traced back to July 2022, when the organization “Democracy for the Arab World Now” (DAWN), founded by Khashoggi in collaboration with the human rights organization TRIAL International, seized upon Mohammed bin Salman’s official visit to Paris to file a petition and an indictment before the French courts, invoking the principle of universal jurisdiction. Reporters Without Borders, the international organization dedicated to monitoring and protecting press freedom worldwide, later joined them in this legal endeavor.
The Court of Appeal settles the legal dispute.
The French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office confirmed in an official statement that an investigating judge from the crimes against humanity unit will formally and directly examine and pursue this complaint.
This shift came after the French public prosecutor’s office had for years opposed opening the case, citing lack of jurisdiction and insufficient evidence. However, the Court of Appeal subsequently issued a final and decisive ruling in favor of the human rights organizations, deeming the complaint legally admissible and subject to on-site investigation.
A historic step towards international justice
Commenting on this alarming development, Emmanuel Daoud, a lawyer with Reporters Without Borders, said: “The crime that Jamal Khashoggi was the victim of is an extremely heinous one, meticulously planned and targeted at the highest levels of the Saudi state hierarchy to silence a dissenting and independent voice.”
For his part, Henri Thuliez, a lawyer with TRIAL International, emphasized that no political or diplomatic obstacles should now prevent justice from taking its course in the case of the late journalist’s murder, especially given the continued emergence of technical evidence and hacked WhatsApp messages revealing details of the final moments of the brutal attack.
