PARIS: France has issued an arrest warrant for the sister of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on suspicion of ordering her bodyguard to beat up a worker at her Paris apartment, sources close to the case said on Thursday.

The arrest warrant which names Princess Hassa bint Salman using a French spelling of her name, Hussat ben Salmane, was issued in late December, a source said, confirming a report by Le Point magazine.

The alleged victim was hired to carry out some refurbishment work at the princess’s apartment, located on the ultra-expensive Avenue Foch in western Paris, in Sept 2016.

He maintains that he took a photograph of the room that he was set to work on and was accused of taking pictures to sell them to the media.

The worker alleges that the princess then ordered her bodyguard to beat him up.

He says he was punched in the face, his hands were tied and he was then forced to kiss the princess’s feet.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2018