If this happened in Nigeria, what will be the outcome of the Prince?
LIFE in prison, with parole possible alter 20 years. That was the sentence handed down yesterday to a Saudi prince convicted of a killing so lurid it has shocked even London, with its long history of tawdry sex crimes dating back to Jack the Ripper.
The victim, Bandar Abdulaziz, had so many internal injuries, including bleeding on the brain and a fractured larynx, that pathologists could not pinpoint the precise cause of death after his body was found in the posh Landmark Hotel.
The killer was a Saudi prince who tried in vain to hide his homosexuality from the court and had been filmed on a closed circuit camera mercilessly beating the victim his paid manservant in the hotel elevator.
The frenzied killing, and the erotic nude photos of the victim found on the prince’s mobile phone, have embarrassed the Saudi royal family, which has refused to comment on the matter. The case is not receiving press attention inside Saudi Arabia.
Justice David Bean told the killer, Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al Saud, that no man, even a royal, was above the law. He said it would be wrong for him to allow the would be wrong for him to allow the prince’s royal status to influence the severity of the sentence.
The judge said Saud had cruelly taken advantage of Abdulaziz before killing him in a rage.
Yon killed Abdulaziz in the course of a sustained and ferocious assault,” Bean said. “You were in a position of domination over him, as demonstrated both by the lilt (elevator) incident and by the sexually explicit photographs you took of him, at some point prior to Feb. 15, which were found on your mobile phone. Abdulaziz was a vulnerable victim, entirely subjugated to your will. You were in a position of authority and trust over him which you exploited ruthlessly,”
The sensational case featured CCTV images of the shaven-headed prince throwing punches at his aide in a hotel elevator the basis of the prosecution claim that the suave playboy prince battered his servant in a rage following years of abuse.
The attack left the aide’s ear swollen to three times the normal size and “beyond medical treatment.”
Bean said the most chilling aspect of the case was Abdulaziz’s acceptance of the vicious beating. He was so completely subservient to you that after being treated as a human punchbag he followed you meekly out of the lift,” the judge said, adding that Saud did not try to help Ahdulaziz after inflicting fatal injuries and instead tried to concert a cover story.
“If you had any remorse you would have sought medical help immediately. But you were only concerned for yourself,” Bean said, The killing took place in their shared room at the Landmark Hotel in London on Feb. 15,
Daily Trust Thursday 21st October 2010
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