A Saudi national who was mistakenly arrested over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and later released has compared his time in French custody with being an animal “in a zoo.”
Khalid al-Otaibi, an interviewee with Saudi television station Al-Ekhbariya TV stated that he was held in a room without ventilation in glass and kept there by police officers after Tuesday’s arrest in France.
“Their eyes were like a zookeeper and they watched me closely.,” he claimed.
Al-Otaibi, whose arrest at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport was an unfortunate case of mistaken identity, added that the place of detention was so “Uncomfortable” that he was not able to sleep. He said the water provided to him was “undrinkable” and served “A dirty glass,” and the use of mobile phones was prohibited.
After his identity was confirmed, he was freed on Wednesday and has since been returned to Saudi Arabia. Al-Otaibi noted that the Saudi embassy had provided him support and even found a “great French lawyer” to deal with his case.
Saudi dissident and columnist for The Washington Post Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2018. It is believed that Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince ordered the assassination. The royal has denied any involvement in the killing, which Riyadh has said was carried out by a group of rogue agents, who, according to the country’s statements, have since been punished.
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