US immunity US cites PM Modi's example in defending immunity for Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Khashoggi murder
Washington: The Joe Biden-led US administration has defended its decision to provide immunity to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from a lawsuit over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, citing the examples of several leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who were afforded similar protection in the past.
Media reports said US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel told a journalist, "This is not the first time that the United States has done this. It is a longstanding and consistent line of effort. It has been applied to a number of heads of state previously.”
He said the immunity has been provided to many other heads of state in the past. Patel cited various examples comprising “President Aristide in Haiti in 1993, President Mugabe in Zimbabwe in 2001, Prime Minister Modi in India in 2014, and President Kabila in the DRC in 2018.”
In 2005, the US had placed Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat at the time, on a visa ban alleging that his dispensation had not done enough to stop the killings in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The ban was removed only after Modi was elected the Prime Minister of India in 2014.
PM Modi has been cleared of all charges in an investigation into the Gujarat riots that followed after a train coach carrying pilgrims was burnt in Godhra, killing 59 people.
The state police faced serious charges, including dereliction of duty, as over 1,000 people were killed in the bloodbath that continued for three days.
“This is a consistent practice that we have afforded to heads of state, heads of government, and foreign ministers,” Patel added.
The US administration drew widespread condemnation after it ruled on Thursday that Mohammed bin Salman has immunity from a lawsuit over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi was killed and dismembered in October 2018 by Saudi agents in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
The operation was ordered by Prince Mohammed, who has been the kingdom’s de facto ruler for several years, US intelligence believed.
Khashoggi was allegedly murdered for being a bitter critic of the prince.
In September of the same year, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz named his son and heir Prince Mohammed bin Salman as the kingdom’s Prime Minister.
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