Jeweler Was Told To Lie In Princess Diana Case

Maira Oliveira

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Thursday, December 7, 2006 -

A key witness in the inquiry into the death of Britain's Princess
Diana recently claimed police threatened him to change his evidence.

Jeweler Alberto Repossi - who claims he sold Diana's lover Dodi Al
Fayed an engagement ring the day before the couple were killed in a
car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997 - alleges he was put under pressure
by investigators to retract the statement he gave to Lord Stevens, who
is leading the inquiry.

There is speculation that investigators did not want evidence that
Diana and Dodi were to become engaged to be made public, as it would
fuel conspiracy theories championed by Dodi's father Mohammed Al Fayed
that the princess was murdered as part of a secret plot to prevent her
from marrying a Muslim.

Repossi told Britain's Daily Express newspaper, "These are things
which I am absolutely certain about. They warned me if anyone lied to
Lord Stevens - and anyone could include the prime minister or even the
secret service - then he had the power to get people sent to prison.

He added, "They kept repeating the warnings of the risk to my
reputation and the bad press coverage I would get. But despite all this,
I was not prepared to change what I'd said before because it was the
truth."

Repossi's testimony - backed up by receipts and CCTV footage - reveals
Dodi and Diana picked a $305,000 emerald and diamond ring from a range
of engagement bands called "Did-Moi Oui" which means "Tell
Me Yes" at his Monte Carlo jewelry store in August 1997.

Dodi - the son of Harrods owner, Mohammad Al Fayed - asked for the
ring to be sent to Repossi's Paris branch so he could collect it on
August 30.

Repossi said, "I strongly support any attempt to determine exactly
what caused this terrible tragedy. Until now I thought I could play
my part by co-operating fully with the

inquiry. But my treatment during the interviews has convinced me that
they are not interested in establishing the truth."

He continued, "My real concern is that attempts were certainly
made to get me to change

what I knew to be the truth. I believe they were doing this in order
to support theories or conclusions they had already arrived at before
they saw me. They only seemed interested in trying to show me I was
lying."

The investigation is expected to conclude that the crash was an accident
due to driver Henri Paul being under the influence of alcohol and driving
over the speed limit.