Family of murdered journalist sues Saudi prince in U.S. court

(Image April Brady / POMED, CC BY 2.0 <;, via Wikimedia Commons)

By Paul Shindman, World Israel News -

The family of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is suing the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in a U.S. court, claiming Mohammed Bin Salman personally ordered the execution of the reporter.

The civil lawsuit was filed in a U.S. district court in Washington alleging that Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, known by his initials MBS, ordered the killing because Khashoggi had been working to promote democracy in the Middle East, something that threatens the closely held family monarchies in the oil-rich Gulf states.

The lawsuit was filed by the democracy organization Khashoggi founded called DAWN, and by his fiance Hatice Cengiz. Khashoggi had gone to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul two years ago to file paperwork for his marriage to Cengiz.

Khashoggi, a 59-year-old columnist for The Washington Post, was seen on security cameras entering the consulate on Oct. 2, 2018, but never left. Turkish prosecutors concluded Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the consulate as part of a premeditated killing by Saudi government security agents, and his body was dismembered before being disposed of.

“Jamal believed anything was possible in America and I place my trust in the American civil justice system to obtain a measure of justice and accountability,” Cengiz said in a statement released to the press.

Although the details of the lawsuit did not mention the amount of damages sought, the suit named MBS and a list of Saudi officials, accusing them of the planning and executing the murder.

Turkey alleges a hit squad from Saudi Arabia — including a member of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage during a trip to the United States— traveled to Istanbul to kill the journalist and then tried to cover it up.

President Donald Trump rejected calls to punish Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying his decision was based on America’s best interests.

In the recently published book by Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, Trump is alleged to have said “I saved [MBS’] a**.”

“I was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to stop [investigating MBS],” Trump said.