A federal judge in the US has dismissed a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, since he was granted “head of state immunity” by the Biden administration in November when he was named the kingdom’s prime minister after years of acting as Saudi’s de facto ruler. The lawsuit had been filed by Hatice Cengiz, the fiancé of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian national who was killed in October 2018 after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Saudi officials called the killing rogue, though many, including the United States, believe that it was approved by the crown prince; Khashoggi was a vocal critic of the prince. Prince Mohammed has denied responsibility.
Judge John Bates of the US District Court in Washington said he was uncomfortable with throwing out the case, but indicated that he had no choice, since attorneys for the Justice Department informed the court in a filing in November that the Crown Prince’s new position provides him with immunity from prosecution in US courts.
“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,” Bates wrote in his decision issued on Tuesday.