The Biden government ruled on Thursday that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman has immunity from trial for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, prompting immediate condemnation of the slain journalist's ex-partner.
Khashoggi was assassinated and dismembered in October 2018 by Saudi agents at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, an operation US intelligence believes was ordered by Prince Mohamed, who has been the kingdom's de facto ruler for several years.
"Jamal died again today," Khashoggi's ex-partner Hatice Cengiz said on Twitter minutes after the news was made public. She later added: "We thought that maybe there would be a light to the justice of
"This is a legal determination made by the Department of State under longstanding and well-established principles of customary international law," a White House National Security Council spokesman said in a written statement. "It has nothing to do with the substance of the matter." The spokesman referred other questions to the Departments of State and Justice.
In a document filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, Justice Department lawyers wrote that "the doctrine of head of state immunity is well established in customary international law."
Lawyers for the Justice Department said the executive branch of the US government, referring to the Joe Biden administration, had "determined that defendant Bin Salman, as the head of a foreign government, enjoys head of state immunity from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States as a result of that charge."
In late September, Saudi King Salman appointed Prince Mohamed prime minister in a royal decree that a Saudi official said was in line with responsibilities the crown prince already held.
"The royal decree leaves no doubt that the crown prince is entitled to immunity based on his status," the prince's lawyers said in an Oct. 3 petition asking a federal district court in Washington to dismiss the case, citing other cases in which the United States has recognized the immunity of a foreign head of state.
Biden was criticized for fist bumping the crown prince on a visit to Saudi Arabia in July to discuss energy and security issues. The White House said Biden had told Prince Mohamed that he held him responsible for Khashoggi's murder.
The prince, known by his initials MbS, has denied ordering Khashoggi's killing, but later acknowledged that it took place "under my command."
Khashoggi had criticized the crown prince's policies in columns for the Washington Post. At the time of the murder he had traveled to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain the papers he needed to marry Cengiz, a Turkish citizen.
"It is beyond ironic that President Biden single-handedly ensured that MbS can escape accountability, when it was President Biden who promised the American people that he would do everything possible to hold them accountable. Not even the Trump administration it did," Sarah Lee Whitson, a spokeswoman for Democracy for the Arab World Now, said in a statement.
