PARIS: A French court on Thursday found the daughter of the King of Saudi Arabia complicit in violence with the threat of a weapon and complicit in kidnapping, and sentenced her to a 10 month suspended prison sentence.
Tried in absentia and the target of an arrest warrant since December 2017, she was also ordered by the Paris court to pay a 10,000-euro ($11,000) fine.
The princess, 42, had never shown up at the trial, which got underway in July.
The punishment was heavier than demanded by prosecutors, who had sought a six-month suspended sentence and a fine of 5,000 euros ($5,480).
The princess, whose brother is known by his initials MBS and is seen as Saudi kingdom’s de facto ruler, was accused of ordering a bodyguard to beat up a workman in her luxury flat in Paris.
“Kill him, the dog, he doesn’t deserve to live.” – the Princess allegedly shouted
According to the indictment, workman Ashraf Eid told police the princess’ bodyguard Rani Saidi bound his hands, punched and kicked him and forced him to kiss the princess’ feet after she accused him of filming her on his cell phone.
The princess had been charged with complicity in an act of intentional violence, complicity in illegal confinement and complicity in theft.
Rani Saidi was handed an eight-month suspended sentence and a 5,000-euro fine, in line with the recommendations of prosecutors.
Eid was working on the seventh floor of the luxury apartment block owned by the Saudi royals on Avenue Foch, a favorite destination of foreign millionaires in Paris, when he was called to the fifth floor to repair a damaged wash basin.
He took pictures of the bathroom which he told investigators he needed to carry out his work.
Eid claimed that the Saudi princess flew into a rage after he caught her reflection in a mirror on camera. She called in her bodyguard, who allegedly beat him.
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The plumber claimed that he was allowed to leave the apartment only after several hours, during which his phone was destroyed, and that at one point the princess allegedly shouted: “Kill him, the dog, he doesn’t deserve to live.”
