A US federal court dismissed a lawsuit against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the assassination of US-based writer Jamal Khashoggi on Tuesday, heeding the Biden administration's position that the prince was legally immune in the case.
Despite what Bates called credible claims of his complicity in Khashoggi's murder, District of Columbia US District Judge John D. Bates granted the US government's plea to insulate Prince Mohammed from the lawsuit.
Jamal Khashoggi Lawsuit Against Saudi Prince
In 2018, a team of Saudi officers assassinated Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist, had written critically of Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed.
The US intelligence community decided that the operation against Khashoggi was directed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The death widened a schism between the Biden administration and Saudi Arabia, which the government has attempted to heal in recent months by urging the kingdom to reverse oil production cuts in a global market roiled by the Ukraine conflict.
The US intelligence community decided that the operation against Khashoggi was directed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The death widened a schism between the Biden administration and Saudi Arabia, which the government has attempted to heal in recent months by urging the kingdom to reverse oil production cuts in a global market roiled by the Ukraine conflict, according to ABC News.
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Biden Administration's Immunity Grant
US intelligence officials found that bin Salman authorized the assassination of the well-known journalist and novelist, who had written critically of the Saudi leader's dictatorial leadership in the Arab country.
Those trying to hold bin Salman accountable for the murder slammed President Joe Biden's decision to offer him immunity. Biden has attempted to defuse tensions with Saudi Arabia after taking a tough stance on the assassination as a contender in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.
As president, Biden attempted to work with bin Salman to reduce petrol costs, and notably offered the royal a fist bump on a July visit to Jeddah, as per New York Post. The Biden administration announced last month that Prince Mohammed's position as Saudi Arabia's prime minister provided him with sovereign immunity from the US lawsuit, despite the fact that the judge had encouraged but not commanded it to do so.
Saudi King Salman appointed his son, Prince Mohammed, as Prime Minister a few weeks ago. It was a one-time exception to the kingdom's governing law, which appoints the monarch prime minister. Khashoggi's girlfriend and his rights group said the move was a ruse to keep the prince out of the US legal system.
Bates expressed worry about the circumstances surrounding Prince Mohammed's new title, saying in his judgment on Tuesday that the plaintiffs' claims against bin Salman and the other defendants are valid.
The court noted that the government's determination that Prince Mohammed was exempt left him with no alternative but to dismiss the prince as a plaintiff. He also ruled that the US court lacked jurisdiction over the two additional Saudi claimants, Independent reported.
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