Saudi Prince Murder Trial: Prosecutor Says Victim 'Incapable of Resistance'

(Oct. 18) -- The prosecutor in the trial of Saudi Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud said today that Bandar Abdulaziz, the servant he's accused of beating to death, "let the defendant kill him" after suffering so much earlier "sadistic" abuse, the Irish Times reports.

"So worn down by the violence, so subservient and submissive had Bandar become that he was incapable of any effective resistance," the prosecuting attorney, Jonathan Laidlaw QC, said. "He was killed without apparently ever having fought back because the defendant was completely unharmed, without any mark at all, when he was examined at the police station. Bandar appears to have let the defendant kill him."

Laidlaw was making his closing remarks in a globally-notorious case that began with the February death of Abdulaziz, 32, in the London hotel room he was sharing with the Saudi prince. An autopsy of his body showed bruising, a broken rib, bleeding in the brain, neck injuries and bite marks on his cheeks, leading to speculation that the abuse was somehow sexual in nature.

Other alleged evidence to support the prosecution's contention that the two men were in a gay relationship included odd testimony from a hotel porter who claimed they color-coded their clothes.

Al Saud's lawyer has denied the claim. Homosexuality could carry a death sentence in Saudi Arabia under sharia law.

The defendant, 34, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and grievous bodily harm with intent, but has admitted to manslaughter.

Read more at The Irish Times.

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