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France issues warrant for Saudi princess who told bodyguard 'to beat up Paris decorator'

The Local/AFP
The Local/AFP - [email protected]
France issues warrant for Saudi princess who told bodyguard 'to beat up Paris decorator'
Avenue Foch. Photo: Eurovizion/Flickr

France has issued an arrest warrant for a Saudi princess on suspicion that she ordered her bodyguard to "beat up and kill" an interior decorator at her apartment in Paris.

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France has issued an arrest warrant for the sister of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on suspicion of ordering her bodyguard to beat up a worker at her Paris apartment, sources close to the case told AFP on Thursday.
 
The mandate against the princess, named in the warrant under the French spelling Hussat ben Salmane, was issued in late December, a source said,
confirming a report by Le Point magazine.
 
It all allegedly started when the decorator took photos inside the woman's apartment block on the chic Avenue Foch in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, reported Le Point newspaper.
 
 
The Saudi Princess accused the man of taking the pictures just to sell them to the press, although he said it was just part of the job.  
 
"You have to kill this dog, he doesn't deserve to live," the princess allegedly told her bodyguard soon afterwards. 
 
It's alleged that the bodyguard then struck the decorator around the head before tying his hands. 
 
The guard, who was (legally) armed, then reportedly ordered the Parisian decorator to kneel and kiss the feet of the princess, who is the daughter of the former king Khalid of Saudi Arabia.
 
The victim told police that the ordeal lasted for four hours before another man intervened, taking a copy of the Parisian man's ID and then telling him "to never return to the 16th arrondissement of Paris". 
 
He was able to leave the apartment several hours later, according to his account -- without his tools, which he says were confiscated.
 
The bodyguard was charged on October 1, 2016 with armed violence, theft, issuing death threats and holding someone against their will.
 
The worker reportedly still tried to charge the Saudis for the decorating job, but was never paid the €20,000 he demanded. He claims that he was never given back his tools either. 
 
The victim reported the matter to police, who said that his bruises were visible at the time of the report. 
 

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