The appointment of Mohammed bin Salmán al Saud as president of the Council of Ministers can put an end to several judicial processes against him, among which there is the case of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, says his lawyer.
The lawyer for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud, who is facing a lawsuit in the US for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, told a court on Monday that the crown prince’s appointment as prime minister, last week, grants him legal immunity, reports Bloomberg.
Bin Salman’s appointment as head of government “leave no doubt that the crown prince is entitled to status-based immunity,” his lawyer, Michael Kellogg, said in a petition asking the U.S. District Court for Columbia dismisses the case against the son of Saudi leader.
The appointment came amid the legal dispute in the Khashoggi case over whether the crown prince should have immunity and therefore not face prosecution. The hearing of the US Department of Justice was to present its deliberation regarding the defendant’s immunity. However, “in light of these changing circumstances,” the Department obtained a 45-day extension to prepare its response to the Court.
Mohammed bin Salmán al Saud and 20 other Saudis are accused of the murder of columnist and critic of the Saudi government, Jamal Khashoggi, which took place in 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), an organization founded by Khashoggi.