A man suspected of being a member of the command implicated in the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul was detained in Paris.
The Saudi Arabian embassy in Paris said Tuesday that the Saudi man detained in France has “no link” to the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, occurred in 2018 in Istanbul and called for his “immediate release.”
“The citizen in question has no connection to the case,” the embassy tweeted, adding that those “guilty of the murder” have already been tried in Saudi Arabia, where they are “serving” their sentences.
The man, who presented a passport with the name of Khalid Alotaibi, was detained on Tuesday by border police at Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport as he was about to take a flight to Riyadh, a source close to the case said.
When it went through the control, the Interpol red notification was activated, according to the same source close to the case.
On Tuesday night, checks were still being carried out to verify his identity and that the arrest warrant indeed corresponds to the detained man, explained another source close to the case, who stressed that the suspect could be held for 48 hours.
Asked about this issue by AFP, an official Saudi source asked for time before responding.
Reporters Without Borders blame Prince Mohamed bin Salmán for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi
The man is currently in judicial custody in connection with an international arrest warrant issued by Turkey, a judicial source said.
If his identity is confirmed, the man must appear before the prosecution of the Paris appeal court, which will communicate the arrest warrant, said a judicial source.
The detainee can refuse extradition to Turkey. In this case, the courts may request that he remain in France, free, under judicial control or in preventive detention, pending a decision whether or not to accept the surrender.
‘Execution’ in embassy
Alotaibi is suspected of being part of a command of a dozen Saudis sent to the consulate of this country in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 to “execute” Khashoggi and “disguise the evidence”, according to documents from the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom consulted by AFP.
The arrest comes three days after the French president shook hands with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin Salman, during a criticized meeting in Yedá, to the west of this absolute monarchy.
The international image of the heir was stained by the murder of the journalist, once close to power, who worked for The Washington Post newspaper and who was dismembered at the consulate of his country in Turkey. His body never appeared. (I)
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