US says Saudi prince has immunity in Khashoggi killing lawsuit

ANKARA: The Biden administration said on Thursday that Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has immunity from lawsuits over the 2018 killing of US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The administration said in a court submission late Thursday that because Mohammed bin Salman is Saudi Arabia's "sitting head of government" he is "immune from this suit" under international law.

The administration submitted the declaration of sovereign immunity to a federal court in Washington hearing a lawsuit filed against the prince by Khashoggi's fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), the rights group Khashoggi founded, over the prince's alleged role in the killing in Istanbul, Turkiye.

The Saudi prince has repeatedly denied any involvement in the murder. The Biden administration opinion is not binding on the judge in the case, who will have the ultimate say.

Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018 and his body dismembered. His remains have never been found.

The US, in a written response to the District Court of Colombia, a copy of which was seen by Anadolu Agency, said: "The State Department recognises and allows the immunity of Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman as sitting head of government of a foreign state."

It added: "Under common law principles of immunity articulated by the Executive Branch in the exercise of its Constitutional authority over foreign affairs and informed by customary international law, Prime Minister bin Salman as a sitting head of government is immune, while in office from the jurisdiction of the United States District Court in this suit.

"In making this immunity determination, the Department of State takes no view on the merits of the present suit and reiterates its unequivocal condemnation of the heinous murder of Jamal Khashoggi."

However, the statement added that "from the earliest days of this Administration, the United States Government has expressed its grave concerns regarding Saudi agents' responsibility for Jamal Khashoggi's murder".

Shortly after taking office, Biden declared that he would bring the perpetrators of the Khashoggi murder to justice, an indirect reference to Mohammed bin Salman that strained relations between Riyadh and Washington.

But since Russia's war on Ukraine began this February, the West has been under pressure to bring energy prices down, which have risen drastically due to Moscow's energy cuts to Europe.

Biden faced political headwinds this July when the Saudi ruler refused to reverse a series of oil production cuts.

Sovereign immunity in international law says governments and their officials are immune from some legal procedures in the domestic courts of other foreign states.

-- BERNAMA