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According to the US government, the Saudi crown prince should not be tried in the murder case of Khashoggi. As prime minister, Mohammed bin Salman enjoys immunity.


According to the US government, Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman cannot be prosecuted in the US for his possible involvement in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi as long as he is Prime Minister of his country. As the head of the Saudi Arabian government, he enjoys immunity from prosecution in the United States, according to a court document now released by the US Department of Justice.

A court in the capital Washington had asked the ministry to evaluate the immunity status of Mohammed bin Salman.

Khashoggi’s fiancee Cengiz files lawsuit

After the murder of Saudi government critic and journalist Jamal Khashoggi four years ago, his fiancée Hatice Cengiz has filed a lawsuit against others in the United States that she claims were involved in the murder of the crown prince and reporter. She was a columnist for the famous US “Washington Post” newspaper.

In the legal dispute, Mohammed bin Salman’s lawyers finally argued in early October that his appointment as prime minister in late September would guarantee crown prince immunity. Therefore, the court should reject the claim.

US Department of Justice: Crown Prince has immunity

The US Department of Justice has now stressed that the US government has expressed serious concerns to the Saudi leadership about Khashoggi’s “horrible assassination” and has also imposed sanctions. However, the doctrine of the immunity of the head of state is firmly rooted in the law, whatever the subject of a particular legal dispute.

Saudi Arabia – behind the scenes of the kingdom:

US intelligence accused Mohammed bin Salman of being responsible for the 2018 assassination of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by an assassination team. The crown prince denies being the mastermind behind the action.

The murder led to the international isolation of the heir to the throne and plunged many Western countries’ relations with Saudi Arabia into years of crisis, including relations with the United States.

Chancellor Scholz also touched upon the Khashoggi case during his visit to Saudi Arabia:

But the sanctions imposed on Saudi Arabia by the government of US President Joe Biden spared Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi’s fiancee, Cengiz, made himself complicit on Twitter, accusing Biden of saving the “murderer” and “criminal” by giving him immunity.

Source: ZDF

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