Khashoggi: Saudi Crown Prince immune to prosecution – U.S.
The Biden administration has ruled that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has immunity from a lawsuit over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi brought against him by the journalist’s former fiancee.
In a document filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Justice Department attorneys wrote that “the doctrine of the head of state immunity is well established in customary international law.”
Justice Department lawyers said the Biden Administration, had “determined that defendant bin Salman, as the sitting head of a foreign government, enjoys head of state immunity from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts as a result of that office.”
Washington’s position has drawn immediate condemnation from the slain journalist’s former fiancee.
“Jamal died again today,” Khashoggi’s ex-fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, said on Twitter minutes after the news became public.
She added later: “We thought maybe there would be a light to justice from #USA But again, money came first.”
A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said in a written statement, “This is a legal determination made by the State Department under longstanding and well-established principles of customary international law.”
“It has nothing to do with the merits of the case.” The spokesperson added.
In late September, Saudi King Salman named Prince Mohammed prime minister in a royal decree which a Saudi official said was in line with responsibilities that the crown prince was already exercising.
“The Royal Order leaves no doubt that the Crown Prince is entitled to status-based immunity,” lawyers for the prince said in an October 3 petition requesting a federal district court in Washington dismiss the case, citing other cases where the United States has recognized immunity for a foreign head of state.
Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in October 2018 by Saudi agents in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, an operation that U.S. intelligence believed was ordered by Prince Mohammed, who has been the kingdom’s de facto ruler for several years.
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The prince, known by his initials MbS, denied ordering Khashoggi’s killing but acknowledged later that it took place “under my watch.”
Angry reactions
The decision by the Biden administration has provoked angry reactions.
“It’s beyond ironic that President Biden has single-handedly assured MBS can escape accountability when it was President Biden who promised the American people he would do everything to hold him accountable. Not even the Trump administration did this,” Sarah Lee Whitson, a spokeswoman for Democracy for the Arab World Now, said in a written statement.
Similarly, Cinzia Bianco, visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, also condemned the decision.
“Deciding to grant sovereign immunity to MbS will send a very clear signal to him: that he should continue asserting Saudi Arabia’s nationalist interests without compromise, even when these go directly against core interests of the United States,” Bianco said.
In a highly charged global atmosphere, the United States is keen to prevent its long-time ally from further distancing itself.
Zainab Sa’id
