Getty ImagesFrench prosecutors have been urged to launch an investigation into allegations of rape and sexual assault by Mohammed Al Fayed at the Paris Ritz, and the “cult-like” management of the hotel that allowed the attack.
The BBC understands more than five women have come forward with new claims about Al Fayed’s predatory behavior in France since the BBC first reported the rape allegations in a documentary last week.
A lawyer representing Kristina Svensson, who spoke out in a documentary about the abuse she suffered at the Ritz, said she plans to ask the Paris prosecutor’s office early next week to start an investigation.
The Ritz did not comment on calls for an investigation.
Ms Svensson, who was an executive assistant at the Ritz between 1998 and 2000, said: “We are very angry and nothing will 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 allegations. .
Ms. Svensson said that Al Fayed maintained an atmosphere “very much like one of a cult, one of a gang, of a mafia” in all companies, which also includes the Ritz.
“There is an oath of omerta,” he said, referring to the mafia’s code of silence.
He said he believed “at least 50” people who worked with him at the Paris Ritz between 1998 and 2000 knew about Al Fayed’s behaviour.
“People must choose a side and decide if they are guilty and choose to remain silent. They must know that the legal team we have will leave no stone unturned. I have thorough evidence, and I know others,” he said.
Ms Svesson said: “I think a full investigation is needed. Certain people… enable this culture.
Getty ImagesAnne-Claire Le Jeune, a lawyer who has worked on many cases of sexual harassment, including the case of Jeffrey Epstein, said that if there are many women involved, the prosecutor “has a moral duty to open an investigation to try to find out exactly how this abuse can happen” .
Ms Le Jeune said another woman had contacted her directly in recent days alleging abuse by Al Fayed. French prosecutors are under no obligation to open an investigation, but Ms Le Jeune and Ms Svensson hope the increased media attention in France may prompt other women to come forward.
It is not known whether any complaints about Al Fayed were made to the French authorities while he was alive.
“I think there are a lot of managers who no longer work there who would be ready to talk to the police about what happened,” Ms Svensson told the BBC.
Lejeune said: “A lot of people know what happened (at the Ritz). Some people can’t talk and I understand. But others may have tried to help Al Fayed to commit crimes. That’s why it’s so important to identify him.
The Ritz Hotel, which is still owned by the Al Fayed family, has only made a brief statement since the BBC documentary aired, in which it did not address specific allegations but said it “strongly condemns any action that is incompatible with any building values.”
The hotel, located next to the French Ministry of Justice on Place Vendome in the heart of the capital, remains a Paris landmark. It is perhaps best known in recent decades as the place where Princess Diana ate her last meal before her death, in a car next to her partner – Dodi Al Fayed, son of Mohamed – on August 31, 1997.
Ms Svensson said her decision to speak out had made her “very happy,” adding that many of Al Fayed’s victims are now in their 50s and “at a point in our lives where we can muster the courage” and “no” I want his children and grandchildren we suffer the same.
