Jamal Khashoggi's fiancee sues Saudi crown prince in US court seeking damages

The fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has filed a lawsuit in a US court against Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, accusing him of ordering the killing. Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 when he was murdered and his body was dismembered. 

Khashoggi’s fiancee Hatice Cengiz and the human rights group, founded by the slain journalist, have sued the crown prince and more than 20 others, seeking unspecified damages. Meanwhile, Turkish prosecutors have reportedly prepared a second indictment against six Saudi officials in the murder trial of Khashoggi.

Turkey claims that the killing of Khashoggi was ordered by Saudi deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri and the royal court's media czar Saud al-Qahtani. The trial in absentia of 20 Saudi officials started on July 3 where Khashoggi’s fiancee also appeared in the court to testify, hoping that the trial will reveal the truth behind Jamal’s body and killers involved in it.

Read: Saudi Expatriates Launch Opposition Party On Jamal Khashoggi's Death Anniversary

Read: Turkey Prepares Indictment Against Six Saudi Officials In Khashoggi Murder Trial: Report

'Mockery of Justice'

Last year, a Saudi court sentenced five people to death and prison term to three people, exonerating Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s inner circle. In September, the court jailed all convicted felon for between seven to 20 years after Khashoggi's family exercised its right under Sharia law and forgave his killers, enabling earlier death sentences to be set aside.

Cengiz had called the ruling by the Saudi court as “complete mockery of justice” and blasted it for closing the case “without the world knowing the truth of who is responsible for Jamal's murder.” She said that the most basic and important questions remain unanswered because people who ordered the killing is still not known.

“The international community will not accept this farce. I am more determined than ever to fight for justice for Jamal,” she said in a statement.

Read: Trump Boasted About Saving Saudi Crown Prince After Khashoggi's Killing: Report

Read: UN Rights Office Says Khashoggi Trial Lacked 'transparency' And 'accountability'