Biden administration tells court Saudi ruler Mohammed bin Salman is immune from Khashoggi lawsuit

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
(Image credit: Rungroj Yongrit/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. State Department lawyers on Thursday told a federal judge that the Biden administration considers Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "immune" from a lawsuit over the 2018 murder of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi because he's Saudi Arabia's "sitting head of government."

Khashoggi's fiancé, Hatice Cengiz, and the human rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., seeking punitive and compensatory damages from the crown prince and some 20 other Saudi defendants under the 1991 Torture Victim Protection Act.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.