Sealed Hotel Windows are NOT Suicide Portals

South Africa’s ambassador to France plunged to his death in Paris after the “secure window” of his 22nd-floor hotel room was “forced open,” according to French prosecutors. Emmanuel Nkosinathi Mthethwa, 58, had been reported missing on Monday after his wife received a “worrying message.” Police initially scoured nearby woods, fearing he had died via suicide, but his body was discovered Tuesday “right next to” the four-star Hyatt Porte Maillot in the northwest of the capital, Le Parisien reported. “The secure window was forced open,” the prosecutor’s office said. French outlet Le Figaro reported that initial findings suggest Mthethwa jumped, though investigators have opened a full inquiry. Mthethwa, appointed ambassador in February 2024 and South Africa’s permanent delegate to UNESCO, had a decades-long political career. His death came amid scrutiny in South Africa where an ongoing inquiry is probing allegations of political and criminal syndicates meddling in police affairs. He was the former Minister of Police. A police commissioner had accused Mthethwa of attempting to influence the inspector general of intelligence to drop charges against a former head of police crime intelligence.

Ambassador Nathi Mthethwa was staying in a Paris hotel due to his appointment as South Africa’s ambassador to France. He was tasked with strengthening the bilateral ties between the two countries. Mthethwa had been reported missing by his wife, who received a worrying text message from him. The body was found at the foot of the Hyatt Regency hotel, and the circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation by French authorities.

https://juxtaposition1.substack.com/p/shock-and-suspicion-as-ambassador