Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in Turkey, has filed a lawsuit against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), accusing him of ordering Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination.
In a lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Kha claims personal injury and financial loss over the death of Jamal Khashoggi.
However, the Saudi Crown Prince has denied allegations that he ordered the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi.
Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee and pro-democracy group he founded sue Saudi crown prince in his slaying https://t.co/L0Qj1BzInl
— Hatice Cengiz / خديجة (@mercan_resifi) October 20, 2020
Filing the lawsuit
It is alleged in the lawsuit that Jamal Khashoggi was killed “on the instructions of Muhammad bin Salman”.
The lawsuit states that “the motive for the killing was clear that is to Stop Jamal Khashoggi’s efforts in the United States for democratic reform in the Arab world”.
Khashoggi’s human rights group Democracy for Arab World Now (DAWN) says their work has been hampered.
In a video conference Tuesday, Hatice Cengiz and DAWN’s lawyers said the lawsuit was aimed at convincing a US court to hold the Crown Prince responsible for murdering Khashoggi and obtaining evidence to back up the allegations.
Read more: The doctrine of leadership: in the light of developing and developed states
“Jamal believed that anything was possible in the United States and that I trusted the American justice system to achieve justice and accountability,” Cengiz said in a statement. She further added, “I am hopeful that we can achieve truth and justice for Jamal through this lawsuit.”
The murder of Jamal Khashoggi
Jamal Khashoggi went to the United States in self-imposed exile in 2017. He was assassinated on October 2, 2018, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he went with his fiancee to do the necessary paperwork before his second marriage.
Investigators say that while Hatice Cengiz was waiting outside the embassy, Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside and his body was dismembered. Khashoggi’s remains were never found.
Saudi officials had earlier claimed that he had left the building. After his disappearance, the Saudi officials changed their statements several times.
Before his death, Jamal Khashoggi wrote for the Washington Post and lived in the United States.
After making several statements about Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance, Saudi officials finally admitted that Khashoggi had died during an operation aimed at bringing him back to the country.
In December 2019, after a secret trial in Riyadh, a court sentenced five unidentified men to death for their role in the murder.
United Nation’s investigations
UN special envoy to the Jamal Khashoggi’s case, Agnès Callamard, called the Saudi trial “unjust” and called for an independent inquiry.
She also demanded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman be questioned in connection with the killings.
According to the UN report, there is enough evidence to hold MBS and other high-ranked Saudi officials accountable.
Initially, the Saudi Crown Prince has expressed complete disengagement from the incident, later he said in a statement that as the leader of Saudi Arabia he “accepts full responsibility” especially because the crime was committed by people who worked for the Saudi government.