French modeling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, a longtime associate of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, has been found dead in his prison cell, a spokesperson for the Paris prosecutor's office said.Brunel was found alone, hanged with bedsheets, in his jail cell at the Santé prison in the French capital at around 1:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, the prosecutor's office told CNN. It would not comment on whether Brunel killed himself, adding an investigation into the cause of death has been opened, "as it is systematically done in these cases," entrusted to the French judicial police.Brunel's French lawyers told CNN their client's "decision was not guided by guilt, but by a sense of injustice.""Jean-Luc Brunel has never stopped claiming his innocence. He has multiplied his efforts to prove it. A judge had released him a few months ago, and then he was re-incarcerated in undignified conditions," a statement sent to CNN by his lawyers Mathias Chichportich, Marianne Abgrall and Christophe Ingrain read.Accused of rape by several former top models, which he denied, the 75-year-old was put under formal investigation in France in late June 2021 for "rape of a minor over 15," the prosecutor's office confirmed.Brunel was arrested at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in December 2020 on counts of "rape and sexual assault, rape and sexual assault on a minor under 15, rape and sexual assault on a minor over 15, sexual harassment, criminal associations and human trafficking to the detriment of minor victims for the purposes of sexual exploitation."He was released under judicial supervision for a few days in November 2021, before being returned to prison by decision of the Paris Court of Appeals. He appealed the decision as the prosecution prepared its case.Brunel's arrest was part of a probe launched in 2019 by French prosecutors, targeting "acts of sexual nature likely to have been committed by Jeffrey Epstein and possible accomplices," based on checks and cross-checks carried out on information provided to the Paris public prosecutor's office and exchanges with U.S. authorities.Epstein was found dead in his prison cell in the United States on Aug. 10, 2019. He was awaiting trial at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, after pleaded not guilty to federal charges accusing him of operating a sex trafficking ring from 2002 to 2005 at his Manhattan mansion and his Palm Beach estate, and allegedly paying girls as young as 14 for sex.A medical examiner ruled his death was suicide by hanging.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that he had ordered 10 foreign ambassadors who called for the release of a jailed philanthropist to be declared persona non grata.The envoys, including the U.S., French and German representatives in Ankara, issued a statement earlier this week calling for a resolution to the case of Osman Kavala, a businessman and philanthropist held in prison since 2017 despite not having been convicted of a crime.Describing the statement as an "impudence," Erdogan said he had ordered the ambassadors be declared undesirable."I gave the instruction to our foreign minister and said 'You will immediately handle the persona non grata declaration of these 10 ambassadors,'" Erdogan said during a rally in the western city of Eskisehir.He added: "They will recognize, understand and know Turkey. The day they don't know or understand Turkey, they will leave."The diplomats, who also include the ambassadors of the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and New Zealand, were summoned to the foreign ministry on Tuesday.A declaration of persona non grata against a diplomat usually means that individual is banned from remaining in their host country.Kavala, 64, was acquitted last year of charges linked to nationwide anti-government protests in 2013, but the ruling was overturned and joined to charges relating to a 2016 coup attempt.International observers and human rights groups have repeatedly called for the release of Kavala and Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas, who has been jailed since 2016. They say their imprisonment is based on political considerations. Ankara denies the claims and insists on the independence of Turkish courts.The European Court of Human Rights called for Kavala's release in 2019, saying his incarceration acted to silence him and wasn't supported by evidence of an offense. The Council of Europe says it will start infringement proceedings against Turkey at the end of November if Kavala is not released.The current U.S. ambassador, David Satterfield, was appointed in 2019. The nomination of his replacement, Jeff Flake, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.