US Grants Immunity from Lawsuit to Saudi Crown Prince Bin Salman over 'Khashoggi Assassination'

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] On the 17th (local time), the Biden administration in the United States decided to recognize the immunity of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in a lawsuit related to the assassination of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

According to CNN and other outlets, the U.S. Department of Justice stated this in a document submitted to the U.S. Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. for the related lawsuit. The Department of Justice explained in the document, "The defendant bin Salman, as the incumbent head of a foreign government, is entitled to immunity granted to a head of state, which is the administration's judgment," adding, "The principle of head of state immunity is well established under international customary law."

Crown Prince bin Salman has claimed immunity in U.S. courts as the Prime Minister, the head of the Saudi government.

Earlier, Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi-born Washington Post (WP) columnist, was killed by Saudi intelligence agents on October 2, 2018, after visiting the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul to register his marriage. The U.S. government announced that Crown Prince bin Salman was behind Khashoggi's murder, which led to diplomatic tensions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia over the issue.

Khashoggi's fianc?e and others filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court in 2020 seeking mental and financial damages against Crown Prince bin Salman and others.

In response to the U.S. decision, Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's fianc?e, posted on Twitter, "Jamal has died again today. I hoped there would be even a little light of justice in the U.S., but in the end, money came first."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.