A French judge is set to examine the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi following complaints filed against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman by international human rights organisations.
Khashoggi, a columnist for and a known critic of the Saudi leadership, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018 while seeking documents related to his planned marriage.
The legal complaint was submitted during Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to France in July 2022 by Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and Trial International.
The push for legal action has also received support from several rights organisations and press freedom groups, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
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Speaking ahead of the judicial review, RSF lawyer Emmanuel Daoud described Khashoggi’s killing as an “abominable crime” allegedly planned “at the highest level of the Saudi state.”
Another lawyer representing Trial International, Henri Thulliez, stated that there should no longer be any obstacle to opening a formal judicial investigation into what he described as an “atrocious crime.”
During the administration of former United States President Joe Biden, the US government released an intelligence assessment in 2021 linking Mohammed bin Salman to the killing.
However, former US President Donald Trump reportedly appeared to dismiss the allegations during a November 2025 meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince at the Oval Office, stating that “he knew nothing about it.”