Spanish court clears Saudi prince of rape

Charges were dropped Wednesday against a Saudi prince accused of raping a woman who said she was drugged and taken aboard a yacht on a Spanish island. A court in Palma de Mallorca ruled there was insufficient evidence against Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, CNN reported. The prince has denied the charges, saying he was not in Ibiza in 2008 when the woman said she was sexually assaulted. The prince's lawyers released a statement calling the accusation a "grave injustice." "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 statement said. The alleged victim, now 23, filed a criminal complaint in 2008. She appealed after a judge dismissed the charges in 2010, winning a ruling the case should be reopened. The woman said she passed out after consuming a drink she believes was drugged. When she came to, she said, she was on a yacht and a man she identified as Alwaleed was having sex with her. Max Turiel, a lawyer representing the woman, said an examination 30 hours after the alleged assault found traces of tranquilizer in her system and semen that could be compared with the prince's.