CALIFORNIA – A lawsuit against Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for his alleged involvement in the 2018 murder of critical writer Jamal Khashoggi was dismissed by a US judge on Tuesday.
A US government position that Prince Mohammed, who was appointed Saudi Arabia’s prime minister in September, benefits from immunity in US courts as a foreign head of state was recognised by federal judge John Bates in Washington.
According to Bates, the civil lawsuit brought by the activist group DAWN and Khashoggi’s widow Hatice Cengiz makes a “strong” and “meritorious” case that Prince Mohammed was responsible for the murder.
However, he determined that he lacked the authority to disagree with the US government’s official position, which was presented to the court in a formal declaration on November 17,
The formal declaration states that the Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince enjoyed immunity as a foreign head of state.
During his father King Salman’s reign, Prince Mohammed served as the de facto ruler of the kingdom for a while.
When Khashoggi flew to Turkey with his girlfriend to get documents for their marriage at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, he was a journalist and activist based in the United States and one of the prince’s most outspoken detractors.
He was apprehended by a group of Saudi government operatives after entering the embassy, killed, and had his corpse mutilated and disposed of.
Following the latest US court ruling, dismay was expressed by those who want to hold the crown prince responsible for the death of Khashoggi.
