2020年10月23日
ジャマール・ハーショグジー殺害事件:婚約者がMBS皇太子を米国で提訴
Khashoggi's fiancee sues Saudi crown prince for murder
イスタンブールのサウディ総領事館で2年前の10月に無残にも殺害されたサウディ人ジャーナリスト、ジャマール・ハーショグジーさんの婚約者だったハティジェ・ジェンギズさんと殺害される前にハーショグジーさん自身が設立した人権団体が10/20、サウディのMBS皇太子を含む20人以上が殺害に関与したとして、責任を問う訴えを首都ワシントンの連邦地方裁判所に起こしました。
ハーショグジーさんはジェンギズさんと結婚するために必要な証明書を米国のサウディ大使館で取得しようとしましたが、そこでは発行できないので、トルコのイスタンブールにあるサウディ領事館に行くように促されたとのことです。これが、ハーショグジーさんを殺すための機会を探っていたMBS皇太子の命令であったのかが争点となります。
ジェンギズさんは、「この裁判を通じて、ジャマールのために真実と正義が得られることを願っている。米国の司法制度に委ね、何が起こったのかを明らかにし、実行した人たちにその行動の責任を負わせたい」と述べています。
なお、この事件をめぐっては去る9月にサウディの裁判所が事件に関わったとして、5人を禁錮20年にするなどの最終的な判決を言い渡しています。
それにしても、MBS皇太子は別件で米国で提訴されています。トルコにおいてもジャマールさん関連で係争中です。ともに欠席裁判だと思いますが・・・・・・。
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2020/9/8付「ジャマール・ハーショグジー殺害事件:MBS皇太子の関与には触れず」
サウディ:ジャマール・ハーショグジー殺害事件で5人に死刑でなく禁固20年
http://shampoo11.livedoor.blog/archives/26185880.html
2020/8/17付「サウディ:米連邦地裁、MBS皇太子に出頭命令」
元サウディ情報機関Saad al-Jabri暗殺未遂の容疑
US court issues summons for Saudi Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman
http://shampoo11.livedoor.blog/archives/25916759.html
【10/20付MEMO記事】
Khashoggi's fiancee sues Saudi crown prince for murder
Hatice
Cengiz, the fiancee to late Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, filed
suit in US district court Tuesday against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman for the journalist’s grisly murder, reports Anadolu Agency.
Cengiz and a rights group founded by
Khashoggi before his death filed the lawsuit in Washington, D.C. District Court
against bin Salman and over two dozen other top Saudi officials.
It alleges that Khashoggi was the victim of
a ruse that began in Riyadh’s US embassy when he went there to secure documents
to marry Cengiz.
It accuses bin Salman and
Saudi officials of having “manufactured an opportunity to murder him” in which
Saudi officials in the Washington Embassy told Khashoggi he could not receive
the documents in the US, and would instead have to travel to Istanbul to get
them at the Saudi Consulate there.
This
fatal misdirection took place in the United States and was part of the overall
conspiracy intended to have a direct impact on Mr. Khashoggi’s political
activities in the United States. Defendants and their co-conspirators
orchestrated these actions with the intention of murdering Mr. Khashoggi,
according to the lawsuit.
Khashoggi was ultimately killed in the
consulate in October 2018, and his likely dismembered body has yet to be
returned to his family.
Saudi Arabia acknowledges its agents killed
Khashoggi but blames it on a botched rendition operation that was executed
without bin Salman’s consent, an explanation scoffed at by critics who doubt
the killing could have been conducted without the direct knowledge and consent
of bin Salman, the Kingdom’s de facto ruler.
Where
is Jamal Khashoggi?… – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]
The CIA determined with confidence that bin
Salman directed Khashoggi’s murder.
The lawsuit filed by Cengiz and the
Democracy for the Arab World Now seeks significant monetary damages, which it
says should be determined by a trial jury.
I am hopeful that we can achieve truth
and justice for Jamal through this lawsuit. I place my trust in the American
civil justice system to give voice to what happened and hold those who did this
accountable for their actions,
Cengiz said in a statement.
https://videos.files.wordpress.com/Ez8mslJ6/video-2-13_dvd.mp4
【10/20付Middle East Eye記事】
Khashoggi's fiancee sues Saudi crown prince over journalist's
murder
Lawsuit
seeks discovery from US officials to prove that the killing was ordered from
the top of the Saudi leadership
Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain
journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has filed a civil lawsuit against Saudi Arabia's
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), as well as other officials, seeking to
hold them liable for his brutal murder.
The suit, filed in a district court in
Washington DC on Tuesday by Cengiz and Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN),
alleges that MBS and his co-conspirators ordered the abduction, torture,
murder, dismemberment and disappearance of Khashoggi for the purpose of
silencing and preventing him from continuing his efforts in the United States
of being a voice for democratisation in the Middle East.
"The ruthless torture and murder of
Mr. Khashoggi shocked the conscience of people throughout the world," said
the complaint.
"The objective of the murder was clear
- to halt Mr. Khashoggi's advocacy in the United States, principally as the
Executive Director of Plaintiff DAWN, for democratic reform in the Arab world.
DAWN was launched in Washington last month
to carry on Khashoggi's legacy of raising awareness of human rights violations
committed by Washington's allies in the region.
"The murder was carried out pursuant
to a directive of Defendant Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi
Arabia," the suit said. "Defendants saw Mr. Khashoggi's actions in
the United States as an existential threat to their pecuniary and other
interests and, accordingly, conspired to commit the heinous acts that are the
subject of this suit."
The lawsuit seeks discovery from American law
enforcement, intelligence, and administration officials to prove that
Khashoggi's killing was ordered from the top of the Saudi leadership hierarchy.
"I am hopeful that
we can achieve truth and justice for Jamal through this lawsuit," said
Cengiz.
"I place my trust in
the American civil justice system to give voice to what happened and hold those
who did this accountable for their actions."
A royal family insider turned critic -
Khashoggi was killed and dismembered at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul
nearly two years ago, in a case that significantly tarnished the reputation of
the kingdom's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The remains of Khashoggi, a former
columnist for Middle East Eye and the Washington Post, have never been found.
Riyadh has described the murder as a
"rogue" operation, but both the CIA and Agnes Callamard, UN special
rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, have linked bin Salman to the killing,
a charge the kingdom vehemently denies.
Earlier this month, a Saudi court sentenced
eight people to up to 20 years for the murder, four months after Khashoggi's
family forgave his killers and enabled earlier death sentences to be set aside.
US-Saudi relationship
Weeks after the murder, the White House
released a statement defending the Saudi royal family and hailing economic
relations, including weapons deals, between Washington and Riyadh.
According
to journalist Bob Woodward's book Rage,
President Trump said he "saved his [MBS's] ass" after the murder.
"I
was able to get Congress to leave him alone. I was able to get them to
stop," he reportedly said.
Over the past two years, Trump has also
blocked congressional efforts aimed against Riyadh, vetoing resolutions to
freeze weapon deals and to end US support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
The Trump administration
has also ignored a legally binding congressional request to release the
intelligence community's findings into the assassination.
Leading up to the US
election, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has pledged to
"reassess" the US's relationship with Saudi Arabia.
"Under a Biden-Harris administration,
we will reassess our relationship with the Kingdom, end US support for Saudi
Arabia's war in Yemen, and make sure America does not check its values at the
door to sell arms or buy oil," Biden said.
"America's commitment to democratic
values and human rights will be a priority, even with our closest security
partners.
"I will defend the right of activists,
political dissidents, and journalists around the world to speak their minds
freely without fear of persecution and violence. Jamal's death will not be in
vain, and we owe it to his memory to fight for a more just and free
world."
In a separate development
on Tuesday, Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Jamal Khashoggi
Press Freedom Accountability Act to ensure the US holds accountable those
who commit extrajudicial killings and other gross violations of human rights
against journalists.
The legislation would
prohibit US foreign assistance to government entities and levy targeted
sanctions against individuals that perpetrate gross human rights violations
against journalists and would require the Department of State to document
incidents of online harassment and electronic surveillance of journalists in
its annual human rights reports.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/khashoggi-fiancee-sues-saudi-crown-prince-mbs