Argentine prosecutors are considering possible criminal charges against Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as he plans to attend the G20 summit this week in Buenos Aires, according to reports.
The investigation focuses on allegations of war crimes during the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen and allegations of torture including the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The probe was initiated by a complaint filed by Human Rights Watch on November 26 to an Argentine federal prosecutor.
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READ NOWThe HRW complaint outlines: “Public findings on alleged violations of international law committed during the armed conflict in Yemen for which Mohammed bin Salman may face criminal liability as Saudi Arabia’s defence minister. The submission also highlights his possible complicity in serious allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of Saudi citizens, including the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.”
The prosecutor now must decide whether the principle of universal jurisdiction enshrined in Argentina’s constitution can be applied to the crown prince.
“Argentine prosecutorial authorities should scrutinise Mohammed bin Salman’s role in possible war crimes committed by the Saudi-led coalition since 2015 in Yemen,” executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth wrote.
“The crown prince’s attendance at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires could make the Argentine courts an avenue of redress for victims of abuses unable to seek justice in Yemen or Saudi Arabia.”
Argentina’s largest newspaper Clarín cites judicial sources as saying it will be very difficult to prosecute the crown prince in terms of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, as it might not qualify as a crime against human rights.
However the HRW complaint focuses more on a wider pattern of torture and events in Yemen.
A source from Argentine president Mauricio Macri’s office told The Guardian that the crown prince had confirmed his G20 attendance.
The president’s office declined to comment on the request for his arrest.
TRUMP CASTS DOUBT ON KHASHOGGI FINDINGS
US President Donald Trump last week called Saudi Arabia a “steadfast partner” and said it was unclear whether Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was aware of the plan to kill Jamal Khashoggi, who Riyadh has acknowledged died inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate on October 2.
Saudi Arabia has been put under intense international pressure over the killing and has brought charges over a number of suspects, while denying the country’s powerful crown prince was involved.
Trump also cast doubt on the CIA’s reported conclusion that the crown prince, also known as MBS, was behind the killing.
The crown prince has arrived in Cairo, Egypt this week ahead of the G20, in the latest leg of his first foreign tour since the Khashoggi killing sparked global outcry.
The kingdom’s de facto ruler was met on arrival by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a source at the airport said.
In Egypt, the royal’s talks with Sisi are expected to focus on “reinforcing bilateral relations and on regional issues of common interest,” presidency spokesman Bassam Radi told AFP.
Saudi Arabia is one of Egypt’s chief economic backers and both nations are taking part in a boycott against Qatar.
El-Sissi voiced support for the monarchy amid the fallout after Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in the consulate, saying the media had played a “negative role” in the case.
After an overnight stay in Cairo, the crown prince is due to travel to Tunisia where protests against the visit have been organised by student bodies.
Around 100 people joined an initial demonstration on Monday in the capital Tunis, which had been called by the journalists’ union and several NGOs and civil society organisations.
TURKISH VILLAS SEARCHED IN PROBE
Turkish police searching for the remains of Khashoggi have scoured the grounds of two adjoining villas in northwest Turkey, the country’s state-run news agency reports.
Crime scene investigators and other officials aided by sniffer dogs and a drone first sealed off one of the villas near the town of Termal in Yalova province and later expanded their search to the grounds of the neighbouring villa, the state-run Anadolu agency reports.
The focus of the search was a well on the grounds of the first villa, which was being drained of water with special equipment brought to the scene. Turkey has maintained pressure on Saudi Arabia over the killing of the US-based Washington Post columnist, who was a critic of crown prince.
Turkey says the journalist was killed by a 15-member assassination squad sent from Riyadh.
The assassins reportedly strangled and dismembered him before removing his remains, which have yet to be found.
Anadolu, without citing a source, said the villas belong to two Saudi businessmen, including one who had allegedly been contacted by telephone by some members of the Saudi assassination squad.
The agency did not name the businessman but said he was outside of Turkey at the time of the killing and had not returned in the past two months. Ankara insists the orders for the killing came from the highest levels of the Saudi government, but not King Salman, the crown prince’s father.
The Saudi agents who have been blamed for the killing included some members of the crown prince’s security entourage.
Saudi Arabia initially said Khashoggi walked out of the consulate before shifting its account of what happened amid Turkish intelligence leaks. Riyadh is now seeking the death penalty for five members of the hit squad in a move that appeared to be aimed at appeasing international outrage over the killing and distancing the killers and their operation from the crown prince. Saudi prosecutors maintain that the 15-man team sent to Istanbul exceeded its authority when the lead negotiator in the team decided to kill Khashoggi for refusing orders to return.
Yalova governor Muammer Erol confirmed that a search related to Khashoggi’s killing was taking place but said any announcement concerning the search would come from Istanbul’s chief prosecutor, who is leading the Turkish investigation into the killing.