29.03.2012
A Spanish court on Wednesday dismissed an allegation that one of the world's richest men, Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, raped a young woman on a yacht on the island of Ibiza in 2008.
In its ruling, the Spanish court in Palma de Mallorca found there wasn't sufficient evidence to press charges.
The prince has long maintained that he was innocent, that he hasn't been in Ibiza in more than a decade and that others have tried to impersonate him.
The prince's legal team released a statement Wednesday saying the ruling vindicates the prince, but said the legal matter has nevertheless resulted in "a grave injustice" to him.
"This news confirms what this office has been demonstrating since the court took up the case: that the alleged accusations against HRH Prince Alwaleed were false and baseless as his royal highness wasn't in Spain at that time, but in France, with his wife, children, grandchildren and accompanied by dozens of witnesses as proof that was provided by the office of the prince at the time," the legal team's statement said.
"This issue has resulted in a grave injustice against HRH Prince Alwaleed. Our client has commissioned this office to consider ways to protect other innocent people who have to face this kind of false allegations and for those to face liability for their actions," the statement said.
"These allegations are completely and utterly false," said the statement from his investment firm, Kingdom Holding Company. "The alleged encounter simply never happened."
The two-hour, closed-door hearing included the woman, another one of her lawyers, the prosecutor and the magistrate in charge of the investigation.
In a December statement, the prince's lawyer in Madrid said the prince was with his family in France in August 2008 on a visit that was well-documented by his passport, cell phone records and hotel receipts, as well as photographs, video and eyewitness accounts.
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