Biden admin: Saudi prince has immunity in Khashoggi killing lawsuit - Axios

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a moving luncheon astatine the G20 Summit connected Tuesday successful Nusa Dua, Indonesia. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images

The Washington Post has joined quality rights advocates successful condemning the Biden administration's statement that Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has immunity successful a suit filed against him implicit the 2018 sidesplitting of Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

The latest: Fred Ryan, the Post's steadfast and CEO, said successful a statement Friday that President Biden is "granting a licence to termination to 1 of the world's astir egregious human-rights abusers who is liable for the cold-blooded execution of Jamal Khashoggi."

• "While morganatic heads of authorities should beryllium protected against frivolous lawsuits, the Saudis' determination to make MBS premier minister was a cynical, calculated effort to manipulate the instrumentality and shield him from accountability," Ryan added, referring to the prince who is commonly known arsenic MBS.
• "By going on with this scheme, President Biden is turning his backmost connected cardinal principles of property state and equality."

Driving the news: The Biden administration's declaration was made successful a tribunal filing successful the suit filed by the journalist's fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, who besides slammed the action, and the rights radical Khashoggi founded, Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).

Photo: Hatice Cengiz/Twitter

Details: A State Department spokesperson said successful an emailed connection the Justice Department filed the "suggestion of immunity," astatine the petition of the State Department, "based connected longstanding and well-established principles" of law.

• This includes customary planetary law, "which the United States has consistently and crossed administrations applied to heads of state, heads of government, and overseas ministers portion they are successful office," the spokesperson said.  
• "This Suggestion of Immunity does not bespeak an assessment on the merits of the case. It speaks to thing connected broader argumentation oregon the authorities of relations. This was purely a ineligible determination."

What they're saying: Cengiz tweeted that the proposition of immunity "wasn't a determination everyone expected."

• "We thought possibly determination would beryllium a airy to justness from #USA But again, wealth came first," she added. "This is simply a satellite that Jamal doesn’t cognize astir and me..!"
• "It’s beyond ironic that President Biden has single-handedly assured MBS tin flight accountability erstwhile it was President Biden who promised the American radical helium would bash everything to clasp him accountable," Sarah Leah Whitson, enforcement manager of DAWN, noted successful a statement. "Not adjacent the Trump medication did this."

The large picture: Biden was criticized for sharing a fist bump with the prince aft arriving successful the Gulf kingdom successful July.

• U.S. officials determined past twelvemonth that MBS had approved the 2018 execution of Khashoggi wrong the Saudi consulate successful Istanbul.
• MBS has denied helium ordered the dissident Saudi journalist's killing, but said helium accepted "responsibility" due to the fact that it "happened nether my watch."

What's next: A justice volition find whether to assistance the prince immunity, arsenic the Biden administration's proposition is non-binding, per AP.

Go deeper: Biden says helium raised Khashoggi's execution with Saudi crown prince

Editor's note: This communicative has been updated with a connection from the steadfast and CEO of the Washington Post.