- Prince Majed Majed bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, 29, is the son of King Abdullah who died in January at the age of 90, Daily Mail Online reveals
- He was arrested last month and accused of forced oral copulation of an adult after neighbors spotted crying and bleeding woman
- Prince Majed was renting a 22,000-square-foot Beverly Hills property, which is currently valued at $37 million
- Felony charges against the prince have been dropped by the Los Angeles District Attorney but prosecutors can now bring misdemeanor charges
- Until now it was not known that the prince is among the very highest echelons of the Saudi royal family, which has thousands of members
The
Saudi Arabian prince accused of sexually assaulting a maid and abusing
up to four others in Los Angeles last month can be named as the son of
the Middle Eastern country's late King Abdullah.
Court
documents seen exclusively by Daily Mail Online name him as Majed bin
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz - one of the late monarch's 35 known children.
His
full identity was disclosed as he escaped felony charges for sex
assault today because Los Angeles District Attorney ruled there was
insufficient evidence against him.
Al-Saud,
29, was arrested late last month after neighbors spotted a crying,
bleeding woman attempting to scale the walls of his rented Beverly Hills
compound.
Taken
into custody by Los Angeles Police, he was charged with a slew of
sexual offenses, including one of 'forced oral copulation' and another
of battery.
SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO
Prince Majed bin Abdullah bin
Abdulaziz (right) is named in documents obtained by Daily Mail Online as
the Saudi Arabian prince accused of sexually assaulting a maid and
abusing up to four others. He is seen with Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of
Dubai, who he was officially welcoming to Saudi Arabia after the death
of King Abdullah.
Majed Abdulaziz Al-Saud was arrested
on suspicion of forced oral copulation of an adult as a neighbor claims
he saw a bleeding woman screaming for help from the prince's multi-million dollar Beverly Hills home
The
prince was due in court today to face an initial hearing but sources at
the Los Angeles District Attorney's office say the case has been turned
over to the office of city attorney Mike Feur.
Contacted
by Daily Mail Online, Feur's office said a case against Al Saud is
currently being put together and a new court date will be scheduled for
later this year.
The
involvement of Feur's office means the charges against the prince have
been downgraded from a felony – which could have left him facing up to
four years in jail – to a misdemeanor.
If
convicted, Prince Majed could be sentenced to up to a year in prison,
as well as handed a fine of $3,000 – a larger than normal amount because
the woman involved is thought to have been an employee.
He is, however, part of the Saudi royal family, whose collective personal wealth is estimated at $21 billion.
Meanwhile,
lawyers acting for another three women, who claim to have been abused
by Al Saud, have filed a civil complaint at Los Angeles Superior Court.
The
filing documents, which give the prince's full name of Majed bin
Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, accuse the royal of assault and battery,
false imprisonment and sexual assault.
The
name makes clear his lineage - bin is son of, meaning that he is son of
Abdullah, who was son of Abdulaziz Al Saud. Abdulaziz was the first
king of Saudi Arabia, and his son Abdullah was king until his death in
January of this year.
Over
a period of three days, the suit continues, the women were subjected to
'extreme and outrageous conduct' that caused them to suffer
'humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional and physical distress.'
A
further note describes the defendant's acts as 'intentional,
outrageous, despicable, oppressive and fraudulent, and done with ill
will and intention to injure the plaintiffs and cause them mental
anguish, anxiety and distress.'
During
Al Saud's time in Los Angeles, he is thought to have spent much of his
time enjoying the local nightlife and holding lavish parties at his
rented $37 million mansion.
The prince is the son of the late King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud (left). He died on January 23
Neighbors claim they saw the alleged
victim repeatedly try to climb the 8-foot-high walls surrounding the
lavish Beverly Hills home
The
prince and his entourage are also believed to have frequented a number
of hot spots, including Déjà Vu Showgirls, a strip club located in
downtown Los Angeles.
Speaking
shortly after Al Saud's arrest, neighbor Eric Stiskin claimed the
prince had fled the country in a bid to escape justice.
'I am sure he has taken off in his private jet by now,' he added.
'I don't think he even needs a passport to get out of here.'
Al
Saud's private jet was later spotted in Vancouver by sources who told a
British newspaper that they had seen the plane on the tarmac – although
the court hearing today heard that he had not left Southern California,
the Los Angeles Times reported.
As
a result, his $300,000 bail bond and the ongoing refusal of the LAPD to
reveal whether Al Saud's passport was demanded as a condition of his
release has drawn anger of women's groups who say it sends a message
that 'impunity can be bought'.
Speaking
to Daily Mail Online, Suad Abu-Dayyeh of Equality Now, a group that
fights for the rights of girls and women around the world, said no one
should be above the law.
'If
alleged perpetrators of sexual violence use their wealth to escape
prosecution, it sends a message that impunity can be bought,' said
Abu-Dayyeh.
'Millions of women and girls around the world need full access to justice and nobody should be above the law.
'Where
situations exist where alleged perpetrators can use their privilege to
evade responsibility for crimes they are accused of, victims are utterly
failed.
'We cannot end sexual violence around the world without effective legal systems that ensure justice for all.
Al-Saud was renting the 22,000-square-foot Beverly Hills property, which is currently valued at $37 million
Dozens pay their respects to the late Saudi King Abdullah who died in January
'With
Saudi Arabia, we are also concerned with its male guardianship system
which helps perpetuate violence and discrimination against women and
girls. It needs to be ended urgently.'
Should
the claims against Al Saud be true, they are likely to prove a major
embarrassment for the country's recently enthroned King Salman, 79.
The half-brother of the late King Abdullah, Salman is Majed's uncle and the father of an estimated 13 children of his own.
Married
three times, Salman's best known son is 30-year-old Mohammed bin Salman
– Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince, second deputy prime minister and
minister of defense.
The
world's youngest defense minister, his tenure, which began in January,
has so far proved controversial – not least in his handling of Operation
Decisive Storm.
A
military campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, it has raised
eyebrows among courtiers who question the need for Saudi Arabia to
involve itself in the affairs of its southern neighbor.
He
has also been accused by a Lebanese newspaper of causing a stampede
among pilgrims visiting Mecca to take part in the Hajj – a disaster that
claimed the lives of 2,164 people.
According
to Ad-Diyah, Prince Mohammed's convoy of 200 soldiers and 150
attendants forced some of the pilgrims to walk directly into the crowds
heading into Mecca, thus triggering a stampede.
He
is further accused of fleeing the scene with his entourage, with the
Saudi authorities later imposing a media blackout on reporting his
presence at the scene.
Many of Prince Majed's 34 brothers and sisters have also had colorful lives - not least the eldest, Prince Khalid, 64.
Married
to his cousin Noura bint Abdallah bin Muhammad Al Saud Al Kabir, Khalid
spent much of his life as a commander of Saudi Arabia's National Guard
before being dismissed in 1992 following disagreements with his father's
advisors.
Since
then, he has focused on his business commitments and, with his sons,
owns the Saudi Arabian Insurance Company and is honorary president of
Jeddah football club Al-Ahli.
Brother
Prince Turki, 43, served as governor of Riyadh Province until King
Abdullah's death and was, in his younger years, a pilot in the Royal
Saudi Arabian Air Force.
Another
sibling is Adila bint Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the daughter of
Abdullah and a Lebanese woman named Aida Fustuq - and one of the few
Saudi princesses to have a public role.
Unusually,
she has been allowed to speak out in public against domestic violence
and is a known supporter of women's rights, including the right to
drive.
A
younger sister, 22-year-old Princess Sanab, was married off aged 18 to
the now 25-year-old Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, a son of Bahrain's King
Hamad.
But
another four of Abdullah's daughters, Sahar, Maha, Hala and Jawaher,
have been less fortunate and have been held under house arrest inside a
Riyadh palace for the last 13 years.
Born
to the late royal's ex-wife Princess Alanoud Al Fayez, the princesses'
plight became the subject of a number of media reports in March 2014
after their mother staged a protest outside the Saudi embassy in London
in a bid to secure their release.
After King Abdullah's death his half-brother, Crown Prince Salman, succeeded him
She
claimed the quartet had been imprisoned for advocating women's rights
and said their continued detention was about 'psychological warfare and
breaking them down'.
A
video made by Sahar, 42, and Jawaher, 38, pleading for help from the
international community failed to elicit a response from Abdullah,
although it was later claimed the furious king denied the pair food and
clean water for 25 days as a punishment.
The
current scandal involving Prince Majed and the ongoing detention of his
sisters are just the latest in a series of controversies involving
Saudi royals.
One
of the most infamous came in 2009 when Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz was
found guilty of the sexually motivated murder of his Sudanese manservant
Bandar Abdulaziz.
The
prince, 36, subjected Bandar to a prolonged campaign of violence and
sexual abuse before beating him to death in a suite at London's Landmark
Hotel.
Sentenced
to life imprisonment by the Old Bailey court in the British capital, he
was deported to Saudi Arabia in 2013 under the terms of a prisoner
exchange deal and is currently incarcerated in a Saudi jail.
Another
incident, in 2004, saw Prince Nayef bin Fawwaz indicted in the US and
France on drug trafficking charges, after planning to use his Boeing 727
to smuggle cocaine into Europe.
Prince Nayef, who remains in hiding, allegedly later claimed that smuggling drugs is 'my God-given right'
No comments:
Post a Comment