Khashoggi’s fiancée slams Biden and hypocrite politicians after US judge dismisses MBS case

Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée on Wednesday slammed a judge’s decision to dismiss a case accusing Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of murdering her husband, and the ‘shameless decision’ by the Biden administration to grant him immunity.

Hatice Cengiz said she was heartbroken as she railed against the hypocrisy of politicians. 

As a candidate, Joe Biden promised to make Saudi Arabia a ‘pariah’ for the murder of journalist Khashoggi.

But in July he bumped fists with the kingdom’s de facto ruler during a visit to improve relations.

‘I’m completely heartbroken by the court’s decision,’ she said a day after her case was dismissed by a judge in Washington D.C.

‘And as I’ve repeatedly stated before, I’m extremely disappointed by the hypocrisy of some politicians, who say one thing and do the opposite.

‘Needless to say, I’m very disappointed by the judge’s dismissal order, aided by the Biden administration’s shameless decision to give a brutal murderer a free pass, based not just on a blatant lie, but also on a deliberate deception that was concocted to avoid accountability.’

Her voice joined a chorus of condemnation, led by human rights campaigners who pointed out that the Biden administration had promised to protect the freedom of the press.

Khashoggi, a US resident, was never seen again after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. 

Saudi officials are believed to have killed him and dismembered his body, before removing his remains in trash bags.

US intelligence agencies concluded that MBS himself approved the operation.

Yet weeks after the Biden-MBS meeting, the State Department announced that the crown prince was entitled to ‘sovereign immunity’ because of his role as prime minister.

He was only appointed in September, after the kingdom took the unprecedented step of allowing someone other than the king to hold the title.  

On Tuesday, it paid dividends when District Court Judge John Bates said that although the allegations against MBS were ‘credible’ he had no choice but to dismiss the case.

Agnes Callamand, former U.N. special rapporteur for extrajudicial killings who wrote a detailed report that concluded the Saudi state was responsible, slammed Biden for his role.

‘One more betrayal from those in power,’ said Callamand, who now heads Amnesty International, in a Twitter thread.

‘So many contributed to the impunity, from Saudi Arabia itself, to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Turkey, to Joe Biden. 

‘I am not mentioning all the governments, and the heads of businesses, sporting and cultural events who courted, sold and bought from Saudi Arabia. 

‘This is the reality of our world. Press freedom and human rights betrayed. Repeatedly. 

‘But still we stand. And still we fight. And we are not defeated. We know the truth. 

‘One episode in our struggle for justice for Jamal may have concluded but the battle is not over.’

Khashoggi, a journalist who had been critical of the Saudi government, walked into the consulate on October 2, 2018, to collect documents that would allow him to get married. He never walked out. 

Audio tape released believed to be from Khashoggi’s Apple Watch captured his dying screams as he was allegedly dragged from the Saudi consul general’s office to a table in a next-door study, injected with an ‘unknown drug’ and surgically dismembered.

A team of 15 Saudi agents had flown to Turkey to meet Khashoggi inside the consulate.

They included a forensic doctor, intelligence and security officers and individuals who worked for the crown prince’s office.

Turkish officials allege Mr Khashoggi was killed and then dismembered with a bone saw.

With no prospect of a Saudi court pursuing the case, Cengiz and DAWN, a group that promotes human rights in the Middle East, had brought a lawsuit in a Washington D.C. court.

But on Tuesday, District Court Judge John Bates said that although the allegations were ‘credible’ he had no choice but to dismiss the case.

He pointed out that he had to respect the State Department’s ruling that as prime minister MBS had ‘sovereign immunity’.

‘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,’ he wrote in his opinion.

Biden met with MBS in the Saudi city of Jeddah in July, as he faced pressure to increase global oil production and bring down gas prices.

The meeting went ahead even though Biden as a candidate had promised to make Saudi Arabia a ‘pariah’ for its role in the murder. 

He later said he was ‘straightforward and direct’ with the crown prince in telling him the killing was unacceptable. 

Yet weeks later, the State Department effectively ended any sort of U.S. prosecution.

It said in its filing that it ‘takes no view on the merits of the present suit and reiterates its unequivocal condemnation of the heinous murder of Jamal Khashoggi.’

‘From the earliest days of this administration, the United States government has expressed its grave concerns regarding Saudi agents´ responsibility for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder,’ it said.

However, it concluded that ‘as the sitting head of a foreign government’ the crown prince enjoyed head-of-state immunity from the jurisdiction of US courts. 

He was appointed prime minister only six days before that just six days before the U.S. State Department’s court-imposed deadline to determine whether he was protected from legal action.

MBS has denied ordering the killing, but has admitted it happened ‘under my watch.’