Saudi crown prince 'immune' in Khashoggi murder trial, says Washington
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
via REUTERS - SAUDI ROYAL COURT
Text by: RFI Follow
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Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is "immune" in a civil lawsuit over the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the US government says in a court document filed Thursday (November 17th) in court.
A recommendation, however, not binding on the court.
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Prince bin Salman was appointed prime minister by royal decree in late September, sparking speculation that he was seeking to avoid legal risks stemming from complaints filed in foreign courts - including a civil suit launched in the United States by Hatice Cengiz , the Turkish fiancée of the journalist murdered in Istanbul.
"
A license to kill
"
The latter posted a series of angry messages on Twitter in response: "
Jamal died a second time today
," she wrote.
Jamal died again today #injustice #JamalKhashoggi
— Hatice Cengiz خديجة (@mercan_resifi) November 18, 2022
Same tone with Agnès Callamard, secretary general of the NGO Amnesty International, who describes the recommendation of the American government as "
profound betrayal
".
The US government's recommendation filed on Thursday gave the Saudi leader "
a license to kill
", said Khalid al-Jabri, the son of Saad al-Jabri, a Saudi ex-spy who accused the prince of sending a team to him killers in Canada.
The murder four years ago of
Jamal Khashoggi,
a close associate of Saudi power who later became a critic, in the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul (Turkey), had temporarily made the prince a pariah in the West.
His lawyers had previously argued that Mr bin Salman "
sits at the apex of Saudi Arabia's government
" and therefore should enjoy the immunity that US courts afford to heads of state and other high-ranking foreign leaders.
The prince, who has been the kingdom's de facto ruler for several years, served as deputy prime minister and defense minister during the reign of his father, King Salman.
►
To read also:
In Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman appointed Prime Minister
After a relative period of sidelining after the journalist's murder, he returned to the international scene this year, thanks in particular to the American president, who
visited Saudi Arabia
in July despite having previously sworn to make the kingdom a "
pariah
".
►
To read also:
United States: a Jamal Khashoggi street inaugurated opposite the Saudi Arabian embassy
In the civil litigation at Columbia initiated by Ms Cengiz and DAWN, plaintiffs claim that MBS and more than 20 co-defendants, “
acting conspiratorially and with premeditation, abducted, bound, drugged, tortured and murdered
” Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist of the American newspaper
Washington Post.
They demand financial compensation and seek to demonstrate that the murder was ordered by “
the top of the Saudi power hierarchy
”.
(with
AFP
)
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Mohammad bin Salman