Saudi recent history: a series of lawsuits against the crown prince
Saudi crown prince MBS, notorious for his crimes and human rights violations, is infamous as the most Saudi prince to face lawsuits in Saudi history. Despite his complete control of the local courts, he did not prevent his opponents and human rights defenders from filing lawsuits against him in the international courts.
The charge of hiding the former Saudi Crown Prince, Muhammad bin Nayef, became the latest case against bin Salman in the United States of America.
The lawsuit relates to the former crown prince, removed by bin Salman in 2017, in a soft coup.
The lawsuit alleges that bin Salman placed bin Nayef under house arrest and confiscated his assets, which prevented his cousin from fulfilling obligations on an oil project.
Persecution of Journalists
The lawsuits against bin Salman included his horrific crimes against journalists and were filed in Germany through the international organization Reporters Without Borders.
The lawsuit accuses bin Salman of systematically persecuting 34 media workers and journalists who were arbitrarily arrested and assassinating the most famous journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in early October 2018.
Bin Salman was also not spared the accusation of Khashoggi’s assassination. The fiancée of the slain journalist and the human rights organization “Democracy Now for the Arab World” filed a lawsuit against him in the United States.
The lawsuit accuses bin Salman, along with 20 others, of torture and brutal murder and considers the crown prince the order of Khashoggi’s murder. He and the defendants are subject to the American justice system.
Actual Summons to Court
Bin Nayef’s advisor was the most challenging case against Bin Salman, as he accused the former intelligence official, Saad Al-Jabri, the crown prince, of trying to assassinate him.
Under a lawsuit filed by Al-Jabri, a US court ordered the summons of bin Salman, along with nine others, in the Tiger Squad of assassinations.
In addition, bin Salman is pursuing a case brought by the Arab media, Ghada Owais, accused of hacking her phone and publishing her private photos via Saudi electronic flies.
Owais filed the fifth lawsuit against bin Salman in Florida, accusing him of pursuing a policy of debt buying and intimidation.
The question remains, will these lawsuits drag the crown prince to international courts, or will arms deals save him again? But what is certain is that bin Salman has become tarnished internationally and is a persecutor of justice.
