Help promote human rights in the Middle East and North Africa

Donate Today
Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Linkedin Youtube Envelope
Search
Close this search box.
  • English
  • العربية
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • FAQs
    • Support Dawn
    • Work With Us
    • For the Media
  • Founder Jamal Khashoggi
    • Who Was Jamal Khashoggi?
    • Chronology of a Murder
    • UN Recommendations
    • International Reaction
    • In His Own Words
    • DAWN and Jamal
  • Countries
    • USA
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Egypt
    • UAE
    • Israel-Palestine
    • Jordan
    • DAWN's Culprits Gallery
  • Democracy In Exile
    • About
    • Submission Guidelines for Democracy in Exile
  • Advocacy
    • The Lobbyist Hall of Shame
    • DAWN's Culprits Gallery
    • Reforming Foreign Policy
      • Aid Conditionality
      • Human Rights Go to War
      • China
      • Yemen: Toward Sustainable Peace and Democracy
    • US Foreign Policy in MENA
    • Joint Advocacy
    • DAWN Foreign Policy Blueprint
  • Experts
  • Latest
Menu
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • FAQs
    • Support Dawn
    • Work With Us
    • For the Media
  • Founder Jamal Khashoggi
    • Who Was Jamal Khashoggi?
    • Chronology of a Murder
    • UN Recommendations
    • International Reaction
    • In His Own Words
    • DAWN and Jamal
  • Countries
    • USA
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Egypt
    • UAE
    • Israel-Palestine
    • Jordan
    • DAWN's Culprits Gallery
  • Democracy In Exile
    • About
    • Submission Guidelines for Democracy in Exile
  • Advocacy
    • The Lobbyist Hall of Shame
    • DAWN's Culprits Gallery
    • Reforming Foreign Policy
      • Aid Conditionality
      • Human Rights Go to War
      • China
      • Yemen: Toward Sustainable Peace and Democracy
    • US Foreign Policy in MENA
    • Joint Advocacy
    • DAWN Foreign Policy Blueprint
  • Experts
  • Latest
Donate

Khashoggi's Widow and DAWN Sue MBS and Co-Conspirators in US Court for WashPost Journalist's Murder

October 20, 2020
in Feature, Press Release Saudi Arabia, Press Releases, Saudi Arabia, Uncategorized
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Jamal Khashoggi's Widow and Democracy for the Arab World Now,  File a Federal Lawsuit Against Saudi Crown Prince and More Than 20 Co-Conspirators for Washington Post Journalist's Extrajudicial Killing

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 20, 2020 – Jenner & Block, on behalf of clients Hatice Cengiz—widow of murdered American-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi—and Democracy for the Arab World Now, (DAWN), filed a lawsuit today against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and more than 20 identified and John Doe co-conspirators in US District Court for the District of Columbia. 

The lawsuit seeks significant civil damages, including punitive damages, in an amount to be determined by a jury at trial. In addition to monetary damages, the lawsuit seeks discovery from American law enforcement, intelligence, and administration officials to prove that the extrajudicial killing of Mr. Khashoggi was ordered from the top of the Saudi leadership hierarchy.  

"US federal court is the proper jurisdiction for this lawsuit under the Torture Victim Protection Act and other common law claims," said former US Ambassador and Jenner & Block Partner Keith M. Harper.  "Plotting to kill a United States resident writing for The Washington Post and heading a Washington-based organization subjects the defendants to the US justice system," added Jenner & Block Partner Robert C. Harmala.  Mr. Harper and Mr. Harmala serve as co-counsel in the matter with Faisal Gill, managing partner of the Gill Law Firm.

[Read the full text of the complaint here]

The lawsuit alleges that MBS and his co-conspirators ordered the abduction, torture, murder, dismemberment, and disappearance of Mr. Khashoggi for the purpose of silencing and preventing him from continuing his efforts in the United States as a voice for democratization in the Middle East, principally as DAWN's executive director. DAWN is the organization Mr. Khashoggi started in January 2018 in Washington, DC. As stated in the lawsuit, Mr. Khashoggi was murdered on October 2, 2018 while visiting the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, and his remains have never been located or returned. 

"I am hopeful that we can achieve truth and justice for Jamal through this lawsuit," said Ms. 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."

DAWN's Executive Director Sarah Leah Whitson added, "Jamal's death only strengthens our resolve to continue with our critical work – to promote liberty, human rights, dignity, the rule of law, and justice in the Arab world and throughout the world."

ABOUT JENNER & BLOCK
Jenner & Block LLP is a law firm with global reach, with offices in Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC. The firm is known for its prominent and successful litigation practice and experience handling sophisticated and high-profile corporate transactions. Firm clients include Fortune 100 companies, large privately held corporations, financial services institutions, emerging companies, Native American tribes, and venture capital and private equity investors. 

ABOUT GILL LAW FIRM

Based in Washington, DC, Gill Law Firm strives to provide quality legal aid representation to clients, extensively communicating with each client to understand their case and position. The firm builds strategies through extensive research and using their years of experience.

ABOUT DEMOCRACY FOR THE ARAB WORLD NOW (DAWN)

DAWN is an advocacy and research organization envisioned by the late Jamal Khashoggi along with concerned citizens and democracy activists from the Middle East. DAWN's founders recognize the need to continue Mr. Khashoggi's legacy by promoting political liberty, human rights, dignity, the rule of law, and justice in the Arab world.

Tags: Al-MojebAl-QahtaniculpritsExtrajudicial killing of Jamal Khashoggihuman rights violationsMohammed Bin Salmanpolitical prisonersSalman AlodahSaudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia in YemenSaudi judiciaryUnited States
Previous Post

Saudi Arabia: The Trial of Salman Alodah Delayed Again after Three Years in Detention

Next Post

We will not allow Khashoggi's killers to evade justice

Related Posts

UNITED STATES - MAY 26: Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., walks through the Senate subway in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Advocacy

U.S.: Suspend Military Aid to Egypt in Wake of Menendez Indictment for Corruption by Egyptian Government

(Washington, D.C., September 23, 2023): The U.S. government immediately should suspend all military aid to Egypt pending the indictment...

DAWN
September 23, 2023
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, ABU DHABI - JANUARY 17: Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan speaking with an attendee during the 2012  World Future Energy Summit - Day Two held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on January 17, 2012 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The World Future Energy Summit annual four-day event draws major players in the renewable energy world and provides a showcase for the latest developments in clean energy technologies. (Photo by Sean Blake/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Advocacy

Over 200 Organizations Demand Action on UAE Human Rights Abuses Before COP28 Climate Talks

COP28 should be used to shine the global spotlight on the human rights violations perpetrated against communities inside the...

DAWN
September 13, 2023
Advocacy

Rights Groups Demand Immediate Release of US-Based Scholar Elizabeth Tsurkov Kidnapped in Iraq

The Iraqi government should take steps to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Elizabeth Tsurkov, a US-based scholar...

DAWN
September 13, 2023
Ubai al-Aboudi, director of the Bisan Centre for Research and Development and user of one of six devices reportedly hacked with NSO Group's Pegasus spyware, speaks during a press conference at the offices of al-Haq Centre for Applied International Law in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on November 8, 2021. - An investigation by a European rights group published on November 8 found that Israeli-made Pegasus spyware was used to hack the phones of staff of Palestinian civil society groups targeted by Israel. The revelations by Frontline Defenders -- confirmed by Amnesty International and the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab -- mark the latest development in the widening controversy surrounding six prominent Palestinian groups designated as "terrorist" organisations by Israel's defence ministry last month. (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI / AFP) (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)
Advocacy

Israel Continues to Violate Rights of Palestinian-American Human Rights Defender Ubai Al-Aboudi

On Wednesday, August 30, Ubai Aboudi, Director of the Palestinian civil society organization Bisan Center for Research and Development,...

DAWN
September 7, 2023
Next Post

We will not allow Khashoggi’s killers to evade justice

UNITED STATES - MAY 26: Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., walks through the Senate subway in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (Photo by Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

U.S.: Suspend Military Aid to Egypt in Wake of Menendez Indictment for Corruption by Egyptian Government

September 23, 2023

Derna's Man-Made Disaster and the Tragedy of Libya's Fate

September 21, 2023

After Morocco's Earthquake, Will Amazigh Life in the High Atlas Ever Be the Same?

September 20, 2023

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • Aid Conditionality
  • Anonymous Interviews
  • Anonymous Interviews Egypt
  • Anonymous Interviews Saudi Arabia
  • Anonymous Interviews UAE
  • Cases
  • Cases Egypt
  • Cases Saudi Arabia
  • Cases UAE
  • China's Uyghur Repression
  • Countries
  • Culprits
  • Culprits Egypt
  • Culprits Israel
  • Culprits Saudi Arabia
  • Culprits UAE
  • DAWN
  • DAWN Foreign Policy Blueprint
  • Dawn's Advocacy
  • Democracy In Exile
  • Editor's Pick
  • Egypt
  • Feature
  • Fellows
  • Foreign Policy
  • Human Rights
  • Human Rights Go to War
  • International Actors
  • Israel-Palestine
  • Joint Letters
  • Jordan
  • Lobbyists
  • Lobbyists Israel Palestine
  • Palestine
  • Political prisoners
  • Press Release Egypt
  • Press Release Israel-Palestine
  • Press Release Jordan
  • Press Release Saudi Arabia
  • Press Release UAE
  • Press Releases
  • Saudi Arabia
  • UAE
  • Uncategorized
  • United Nations
  • US – Egypt
  • US – Saudi Arabia
  • US – UAE
  • USA
  • Yemen Conference

SUPPORT OUR MISSION

Donate Today

About Us

Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) is a nonprofit organization that promotes democracy, the rule of law, and human rights for all of the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Support Us

Donate Now

Newsletter

Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin Youtube

© DAWN All rights reserved. | Website Design by KRS Creative.

DONATE TODAY