Saudi prince has immunity in Khashoggi killing lawsuit, say legal professionals

Lawyers for Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, dealing with a U.S. lawsuit over the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, advised a court docket on Monday the crown prince’s appointment as prime minister final week ensured him immunity from prosecution.

Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by Saudi brokers within the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in an operation which U.S. intelligence believed was ordered by Prince Mohammed, who has been the dominion’s de facto ruler for a number of years.

The prince denied ordering Khashoggi’s killing, however acknowledged later it befell “under my watch.”

Last week his aged father King Salman named him prime minister in a royal decree which a Saudi official mentioned was consistent with obligations the crown prince was already exercising.

“The Royal Order leaves no doubt that the Crown Prince is entitled to status-based immunity,” legal professionals for the prince mentioned in a petition requesting a federal district court docket in Washington dismiss the case, citing different circumstances the place the United States has recognised immunity for a overseas head of state.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who fist-bumped the crown prince on a go to to Saudi Arabia in July to debate power and safety points, had advised Prince Mohammed that he thought of him chargeable for Khashoggi’s killing.

He mentioned Prince Mohammed denied involvement and asserted these concerned had been held to account.

Khashoggi, who had criticized the crown prince’s insurance policies in Washington Post columns, had traveled to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to acquire papers he wanted to marry Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish citizen.

The lawsuit was filed collectively by Cengiz and a human rights group based by Khashoggi, and sought unspecified damages in opposition to the crown prince, recognized within the West as MbS. It additionally named greater than 20 different Saudis as co-defendants.

It charged that MbS, his co-defendants and others carried out a plot to “permanently silence Mr. Khashoggi” after discovering he deliberate to make use of the group as “a platform to espouse democratic reform and promote human rights.”

The court docket had requested the U.S. Department of Justice to specific a view on whether or not Prince Mohammed had immunity, setting an Oct. 3 deadline for a response.
After the prince’s appointment as prime minister final week, the division mentioned on Friday it was in search of a 45-day extension to arrange its response to the court docket “in light of these changed circumstances.”

On Monday, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates granted the request for an extension however mentioned absent compelling proof, this might be the one extension he would enable.

The United States ought to file any assertion of curiosity no later than Nov. 17, Bates mentioned in a court docket doc.