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The princess, 43, the sister of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had denied any wrongdoing. Ahead of the trial’s opening, her French lawyer, Emmanuel Moyne, said the investigation was based on falsehoods.
A Saudi princess was found guilty by a French court Thursday of beating a workman inside her luxury flat in Paris.
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Princess Hassa bint Salman, the daughter of King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz, was found to be complicit in violence with a deadly weapon and complicit in the kidnapping of a workman in her flat.
The French court sentenced the Saudi princess to a ten-month suspended prison sentence, despite her absence during the trial.
In their indictment, prosecutors had accused Princess Hassa bint Salman of ordering a bodyguard to beat up a workman in her luxury flat in Paris.
According to the indictment, workman Ashraf Eid told police the bodyguard 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.
He said that as he was being beaten, Princess Hassa treated him like a dog and said to him “you’ll see how you speak to a princess, how you speak to the royal family”.
The princess, 43, the sister of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, had denied any wrongdoing. Ahead of the trial’s opening, her French lawyer, Emmanuel Moyne, said the investigation was based on falsehoods.
The princess was not in court for the verdict.
Saudi royalty has faced legal problems in France before.
In 2013, a French court ordered the French assets of Saudi Princess Maha al-Sudairi, wife of the former interior minister Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, to be seized over unpaid bills at a luxury hotel totaling almost 6 million euros ($6.7 million).
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