The Biden administration ruled on Thursday that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has immunity from a lawsuit over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, prompting immediate condemnation of the slain journalist’s former fiancee.
Khashoggi was assassinated and dismembered in October 2018 by Saudi agents at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, an operation that US intelligence believed was ordered by Prince Mohammed, who has been the de facto ruler of the kingdom for several years.
“Jamal died again today,” Khashoggi’s ex-fiancée Hatice Cengiz said on Twitter minutes after the news broke. She later added: “We thought maybe there would be a light for #USA justice But then again, money came first.”
The Saudi government’s communications office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.
A spokesman for the Saudi consulate in Washington could not be reached for comment Thursday night after business hours.
“This is a legal determination made by the State Department under longstanding and well-established principles of customary international law,” a White House National Security Council spokesman said in a written statement. “It has nothing to do with the merits of the case.”
The spokesman referred further questions to the Departments of State and Justice.
In a document filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Justice Department lawyers wrote that “the doctrine of head of state immunity is well established in customary international law.”
Lawyers for the Department of Justice said the executive branch of the US government, referring to the Biden Administration, had “determined that defendant bin Salman, as acting head of a foreign government, enjoys head of state immunity from the jurisdiction of US courts as a result of that office”.
In late September, Saudi King Salman named Prince Mohammed prime minister in a royal decree that a Saudi official said was in line with responsibilities the crown prince was already exercising.
“The Royal Warrant leaves no doubt that the crown prince is entitled to status-based immunity,” the prince’s lawyers said in an Oct. 3 petition asking a federal district court in Washington to dismiss the case, citing others. cases in which the United States has recognized immunity for a foreign head of state.
fist bump
President Joe Biden was criticized for punching the crown prince on a visit to Saudi Arabia in July to discuss energy and security issues. The White House said Biden had told Prince Mohammed that he held him responsible for Khashoggi’s murder.
The prince, known by his initials MBS, has denied ordering Khashoggi’s killing but later acknowledged that it took place “under my watch”.
The longstanding alliance between the two countries was strained in October when a decision by the Saudi-led OPEC+ oil producer group to cut oil production sparked a war of words between the White House and Riyadh.
The decision had raised concerns in Washington about the possibility of higher gasoline prices ahead of the November midterm elections. This latest move shows the administration’s weakness vis-à-vis the kingdom, some analysts said.
“The decision to grant sovereign immunity to MBS will send a very clear signal to it: that it must continue to assert Saudi Arabia’s nationalist interests without compromise, even when these go directly against the core interests of the United States,” said Cinzia Bianco, Member Visitor of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Khashoggi had criticized the crown prince’s policies in columns for the Washington Post. He had traveled to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain the documents he needed to marry Cengiz, a Turkish citizen.
“It is beyond ironic that President Biden single-handedly ensured that MBS can escape accountability when it was President Biden who promised the American people that he would do everything possible to hold them accountable. Not even the Trump administration did this,” Sarah said. Lee Whitson, spokesperson for Democracy for the Arab World Now, in a written statement.
In a highly charged global atmosphere, the United States is keen to prevent its longtime ally from further estrangement.
“In the midst of a major power contest with Russia and China, the United States recognizes that Saudi Arabia has other options. And a further Saudi turn to the East must be avoided at all costs,” said Andreas Krieg, a professor at King’s College of London.
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