A Washington federal judge has thrown out the lawsuit filed against the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, as the prince was granted immunity by United States President Joe Biden, Reuters reports.
The lawsuit against the Saudi royal was filed by the fiancé of journalist Jamal Kashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Despite his reluctance, U.S. District Judge John Bates dismissed the lawsuit after the Crown Prince was granted immunity by Biden’s administration.
“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,” the judge underscored.
Bates was alluding to the fact that Prince Mohammed was just appointed prime minister by the Saudi monarch in September when he mentioned the circumstances surrounding his nomination as head of state.
American intelligence believes that Prince Mohammed, also known by his initials MBS, who has been the kingdom’s de facto ruler for some time, ordered the killing and dismemberment of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
Prince Mohammed has repeatedly dismissed the allegations that he had ordered the murder of Kashoggi, however, later conceded it did in fact occur “under his watch.”
“As the sitting head of a foreign government, the prince enjoys head of state immunity from the jurisdiction of U.S. courts,” as a result of the Biden administration, US State Department attorneys have said.
Following the announcement about the immunity, Kashoggi’s fiancé, Hatice Cengiz expressed her disappointment, saying that “Jamal died again today.”
When Biden visited Saudi Arabia in July to talk about oil and security matters, he received criticism for giving the crown prince a fist bump.
According to the White House, Biden told Prince Mohammed that he held him accountable for the murder of Khashoggi.
In his articles for the Washington Post, Khashoggi has attacked the crown prince’s policies.
The day he was killed, Kashoggi had gone to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to get the documents he required to wed Turkish national Cengiz.
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