A US judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed in the United States against Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, accused of ordering the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Without deciding on the merits of the case, magistrate John Bates said he was bound by the position recently taken by the American government, according to which “MBS” enjoys legal immunity as head of government in office.
Judge Bates, however, expressed his “discomfort with the circumstances of the appointment (to power) of Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the credible allegations about his involvement in the death of Khashoggi”.
Jamal Khashoggi, a former aide to Saudi power turned critic, was killed and dismembered in 2018 in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The murder sparked international outcry and made Prince Mohammed bin Salman a pariah in the West.
The Saudi authorities have always denied his responsibility, but Mohammed bin Salman is considered to have ordered the assassination by American intelligence.
The journalist’s Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, and the Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) association he had founded in the United States, had filed a civil complaint in 2020 before the American courts against the crown prince and other Saudi officials.
“Although we are disappointed by this decision, we will consider all possible options in order to continue our legal actions aimed at the criminal behavior of MBS,” DAWN director Sarah Leah Whitson said on Tuesday.
At the end of September, “MBS”, who has de facto ruled the kingdom for years, was appointed prime minister by royal decree. Many commentators saw it as an attempt to shield him from prosecution abroad.
Taking note of this appointment, the government of Democratic President Joe Biden had estimated in mid-November that he enjoyed judicial immunity.
This statement had drawn strong criticism. The Washington Post newspaper, for which Mr. Khashoggi had collaborated, had accused the president of having “turned his back on the fundamental principles of press freedom and equality”.
The White House had retorted that this legal opinion “had nothing to do with the bilateral relationship” between the two countries.
President Biden visited Saudi Arabia in July. On this occasion, he made a very commented fist-to-fist “check” with the crown prince, but then assured that he had discussed the Khashoggi affair with him.