The spouse of murdered reporter Jamal Khashoggi had sued Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. However, a federal court in US capital rejected the case, noting US President Joe Biden’s decision to provide the Saudi Crown prince with immunity.
Yesterday, United States District Judge made the implication that he was hesitant to dismiss the action. John Bates but had little alternative in light of the Biden office’s decisions to offer Bin Salman a legal protection.
According to part of the ruling, “despite the Court’s uneasiness, then, with both the circumstances of bin Salman’s appointment and the credible allegations of his involvement in Khashoggi’s murder, the United States has informed the Court that he is immune.”
In the eve of a day in October four years ago, the Saudi journalist was assassinated and dismembered in the country’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. According to reports by American intelligence services, the murder mission was chaired by Mohammad bin Salman, the de-facto Saudi ruler.
Although the Bin Salman has rejected ordering Khashoggi’s murder, he later admitted that it happened under my observation.
In a court filing from last month, public defenders for the US Department of Justice stated that the president office had ascertained MbS’ enjoyed head-of-state immunity from US courts because he was “the incumbent head of a foreign power.”
Bates, however, referred to the details surrounding the crown prince’s appointment to the position of head of state. He was making reference to the fact that the prince had just been appointed prime minister by edict in six minths ago.
In writings for the Washington Post, Khashoggi has criticized the Saudi crown prince’s approaches in ruling the monarchy. He had traveled to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul to get the documents he needed to marry his Turkish-born fiancée Hatice Cengiz.
Khashoggi Tragedy; From Human Aspect to Political Interests
Khashoggi’s fiancee had waited unwittingly outside the consulate when he was slain. Along with a rights group created by the killed journalist before he died, Cengiz initiated the action. Two of the Bin Salman’s top advisors were also named as co-conspirators in the lawsuit.
The murder caused a gap between the Biden government and Saudi kingdom, which it has attempted to mend in recent times. In a world market plagued by the Ukraine conflict, the US ineffectively pressed the monarchy to reverse its oil output limits.
In defiance of US pressure, the OPEC+ announced two months ago that it will cut its daily oil output objectives by two million barrels. According to Riyadh, the policy was adopted to balance the oil market rather than raise prices.
The output restraints, however, were criticized for pushing up oil prices internationally. That would increase Russia’s earnings and allow it to continue funding the conflict in Ukraine despite economic sanctions by the Western world. Additionally, the action was regarded as a political blow for the Biden office as it gears up for the crucial midterms in one month.
In July, Biden visited Saudi Arabia and had a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Despite Biden’s pledge to declare the kingdom a global “pariah” after the 2018 murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi, the visit took place under fierce economic condition.
The ties between the US and Saudi Arabia is “strategic,” according to a statement released by the Saudi embassy in Washington. The Office says it has improved the security and stability of the Middle East and the world.
Human rights organizations and Saudi expatriates have claimed that absolving the prince of responsibility would give autocrats everywhere a pass on future atrocities.
