French prosecutors are being urged to launch an investigation into allegations of rapes and sexual assault by Mohammed Al Fayed at the Paris Ritz, and into the “cult-like” hotel management that enabled his attacks, reports BBC News.
The BBC understands more than five women have come forward with new claims about Al Fayed’s predatory behaviour in France since the BBC first reported the rape allegations in a documentary last week.
A lawyer representing Kristina Svensson, who spoke out in the documentary about the abuse she suffered at the Ritz, said she plans to ask the Paris prosecutor’s office early next week to launch an investigation.
The Ritz did not comment on the calls for an investigation.
Ms Svensson, who was executive assistant at the Ritz between 1998 and 2000, said: “We’re in enough of a rage that nothing is going to stop us."
In the documentary, Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods, the BBC revealed multiple allegations of rape against the late billionaire owner of London’s most famous department store, along with evidence that the company not only failed to intervene, but helped to cover up the alleged abuse.
Ms Svensson said that Al Fayed cultivated an atmosphere “very much like one of a cult, one of a gang, of a mafia” in all his establishments, which also included the Ritz.
“There was a vow of omerta,” she said, referring to the mafia’s code of silence.
She said she believed “at least 50” people who had worked with her at the Paris Ritz between 1998 and 2000 knew about Al Fayed’s behaviour.
“People need to pick their side and decide if they were culpable in any way and chose to remain silent. They need to understand that the legal teams we have will leave no stone unturned. I have meticulous proof, and I know others do,” she said.
Ms Svesson said: “I think a full investigation is needed. Specific people… enabled this culture to exist.”