Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a working dinner at the G20 Summit in Nusa Dua, Indonesia, on Tuesday. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images
The Washington Post joined human rights defenders in denouncing the Biden administration’s claim to be Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince. Mohammed bin Salman He has immunity from the lawsuit brought against him over the 2018 murder of Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Last: Post publisher and CEO, Fred Ryan, said in a statement President Biden on Friday “authorizes one of the world’s most gruesome human rights violators responsible for the cold blooded murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”
- While legitimate heads of government should be protected from frivolous lawsuits, the Saudi decision Making MBS prime minister “It was a cynical, calculated effort to manipulate the law and protect him from liability,” Ryan said, referring to the prince often known as MBS.
- “President Biden is turning his back on the fundamental principles of press freedom and equality by embracing this plan.”
Steering the news: Statement from the Biden administration and court files In the lawsuit filed by the journalist’s fiancee, Hatice Cengizwho too hit action and rights group Khashoggi founded, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).
Detail: A State Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement that the Justice Department, at the State Department’s request, submitted a “proposition of immunity” “based on longstanding and established legal principles”.
- This includes “customary international law, which the United States has consistently applied to heads of state, heads of government and secretary of state while in office and between administrations,” the spokesperson said.
- “This Immunity Proposal does not reflect an assessment of the merits of the case. It says nothing about broader policy or the state of affairs. It was a purely legal determination.”
What they say: Genghis tweeted He said the immunity proposal was “not a decision everyone expected”.
- “We thought maybe there would be a light on justice from the US, but again the money came first,” he added. “This is a world that Jamal and I don’t know..!”
- “While it was President Biden who promised the American people he would do anything to hold him accountable, it is not ironic that President Biden alone assured MBS that MBS could evade accountability,” DAWN Executive Director Sarah Leah Whitson said in a statement. “Even the Trump administration hasn’t done that.”
Big picture: Biden has been criticized to share and fist to fist With the prince after arriving in the Gulf kingdom in July.
- US officials determined last year MBS approved 2018 Khashoggi murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
- MBS denied that it ordered the killing of the dissident Saudi journalist, but said it did. accepted “responsibility” because this “It took place under my supervision.”
What’s next: A judge will decide whether to grant immunity to the prince, as the Biden administration’s proposal is not binding. per AP.
Go deeper: Biden says he discussed Khashoggi murder with Saudi crown prince
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with a statement from the publisher and CEO of The Washington Post.
