Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated in Istanbul in October 2018.
(dpa) A court in the United States has dismissed a lawsuit against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over his alleged involvement in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In November, the US Justice Department recommended that the court grant Bin Salman immunity in the case. The court followed the recommendation and dismissed the lawsuit, according to court documents released on Tuesday. In his reasoning, Judge John Bates referred to the arguments of the American government and Bin Salman’s “immunity as head of state”.
At the same time, Bates addressed a “court uneasiness” about the Justice Department’s recommendation in his argument. This uneasiness is due not only to “credible allegations” about the prince’s involvement in the assassination of Khashoggi, the judge wrote, but also to the timing of Bin Salman’s appointment as Saudi Arabia’s prime minister.
The fiancee of the murdered Saudi government critic and journalist Khashoggi, Hatice Cengiz, appeared as a plaintiff. After the murder four years ago, she filed a lawsuit in the United States against the Saudi crown prince and others whom she alleges were involved in the reporter’s killing. Among other things, Khashoggi had worked as a columnist for the renowned American newspaper “Washington Post”. Cengiz accused US President Joe Biden of having saved the “murderer” and “criminal” Bin Salman by granting him immunity, thereby making himself complicit.
American intelligence has accused Mohammed bin Salman of being responsible for the 2018 killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The crown prince denies being the mastermind behind the action. The murder temporarily isolated the heir to the throne internationally and plunged relations between the United States and many other Western countries and Saudi Arabia into a crisis. However, Mohammed bin Salman was spared the sanctions that Biden’s government imposed on Saudi Arabia.