French judge to investigate the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A French judge has been instructed to investigate the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after rights organizations filed a complaint against Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, commonly known as MBS.

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and a critic of MBS, was killed in 2018 inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, while he was there to obtain marriage documents.

During MBS’s visit to France in July 2022, the Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and the rights group Trial International petitioned French courts to pursue the case.

The call for justice has since been reinforced by activists and other organizations, including the press‑freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Prior to the inquiry, Emmanuel Daoud, a lawyer for RSF, described Khashoggi as a victim of an “abominable crime, decided and planned at the highest level of the Saudi state.”

Henri Thulliez, a lawyer for Trial International, said there should be “no longer any obstacle” to a judicial investigation into the “atrocious crime committed against Khashoggi.”

During President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States government indicted MBS for the killing of Khashoggi and released an intelligence‑community assessment in 2021.

However, in a November 2025 meeting with MBS in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump appeared to exonerate the crown prince, stating, “He knew nothing about it.”