The Biden administration has said that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has immunity from a lawsuit over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — a Saudi-born US resident who wrote critical articles about Saudi rulers in The Washington Post.
A spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said, “This is a legal determination made by the State Department under longstanding and well-established principles of customary international law. It has nothing to do with the merits of the case.”
Moreover, the Justice Department of the country had “determined that defendant bin Salman, as the sitting head of a foreign government, enjoys head of state immunity from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts as a result of that office.”
After the news, Khashoggi’s ex-fiancée Hatice Cengiz tweeted: “Jamal died again today”.
Earlier, lawyers for the prince asked in a petition requesting a federal district court in Washington to dismiss the case, citing other cases where the United States has recognised immunity for a foreign head of state
In 2018, Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, an operation that US intelligence believed was allegedly ordered by the crown prince who has repeatedly denied involvement in the past.
When the incumbent US President Joe Biden took charge of the presidency, his administration made clear the president would avoid direct engagement with the crown prince and instead focus on his engagements with King Salman.
