Hassa bint Salman Al Saud, the sister of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is on trial in Paris, facing allegations that she ordered one of her team of bodyguards to beat a local craftsman who was renovating her luxury apartment.
Ashraf Eid, an Egyptian-born French national who lives in Paris, alleges that the princess’s bodyguard attacked him after she falsely accused him of taking photos of her in September 2016. He says the guard hit him, tied him up, put a gun against his head and ordered him to kiss the princess’s feet.
The Princess is being tried in absentia on charges of armed violence and complicity to hold someone against their will. A member of Princess Hassa’s defense team told reporters outside the courtroom that their client denies all accusations and was requesting immediate acquittal.
Mr Eid says he was working on a bathroom in the Princess’s apartment in Paris’ exclusive Avenue Foch and took photographs of the furniture “for future reference”, when he suddenly noticed the princess’s reflection in the mirror.
According to Eid’s account read in court, when the princess saw him she allegedly ordered her bodyguard Rani Saidi to take his phone. Eid claimed Saidi then manhandled Eid and kicked him in the face.
Prosecutors have asked for a six-month suspended sentence for Princess Hassa, an eight-month suspended sentence for her bodyguard, and a 5,000 Euro ($5,600) fine for each. The case is ongoing
.
