A federal judge in Washington dismissed a lawsuit against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Tuesday for the 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, citing President Joe Biden’s grant of immunity.
U.S. District Judge John Bates decided to defer to the Biden administration’s mid-November decision to grant immunity to the Saudi crown prince, despite his hesitation.
According to Bates, any other option would “unduly interfere” with the executive branch’s power to make foreign policy.
“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, and bin Salman is therefore ‘entitled to head of state immunity … while he remains in office,’” Bates wrote in his 25-page ruling (pdf)….