Saudi prince has protection in Khashoggi killing lawsuit, says lawyers

• Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is being sued by the U.S. for killing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
• Lawyers for the crown prince say his appointment as prime minister gives him immunity from prosecution.
• The journalist was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Lawyers for Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is being sued by the U.S. for killing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018, told a court on Monday that the crown prince’s appointment as prime minister last week gave him immunity from prosecution.

Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The U.S. believes that Prince Mohammed, who has been the de facto ruler of the kingdom for several years, gave the order for the operation.

The prince said he didn’t order Khashoggi’s death, but he later said it happened “under my watch.”

His old father, King Salman, named him prime minister last week in a royal decree, which a Saudi official said was in line with the duties the crown prince was already doing.

In a petition asking a federal district court in Washington to throw out the case, the Crown Prince’s lawyers said, “The Royal Order leaves no doubt that the Crown Prince is entitled to status-based immunity.” They did this by pointing to other cases where the United States has recognised immunity for a foreign head of state.

In July, when U.S. President Joe Biden went to Saudi Arabia to talk about energy and security issues, he fist-bumped the crown prince and told Prince Mohammed that he thought the crown prince was responsible for Khashoggi’s death.

He said that Prince Mohammed denied being involved and that those who were responsible had been held responsible.

Khashoggi had written columns in the Washington Post criticising the crown prince’s policies. He went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get the papers he needed to marry Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish citizen.

The lawsuit was filed by Cengiz and a human rights group that Khashoggi started. They were suing the crown prince, who is known as MbS in the West. More than 20 other Saudis were also named as defendants.

It said that MbS, his co-defendants, and others planned to “permanently silence” Khashoggi after learning that he wanted to use the group as a “platform to advocate for democratic reform and promote human rights.”

The court had asked the U.S. Department of Justice to say whether or not Prince Mohammed had immunity and gave the department until Oct. 3 to respond.

After the prince became prime minister last week, the department said on Friday that, “in light of these changed circumstances,” it needed 45 more days to prepare its answer to the court.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates agreed to the request for a delay, but he said this would be the only delay he would allow unless there was strong evidence to the contrary.

Bates said in a court document that the US should file any statement of interest by Nov. 17.

Also Read

Macron hosts Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman despite rights outrage

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin...