Mohammed bin Salman personally lobbied David Cameron earlier this year to intervene in the legal case of the London-based dissident, who is suing the Saudi government, among other threats to its officials, that the outcome “could have implications” for a £100bn investment in the UK.
UK government documents obtained by the Guardian show that Cameron asked senior Foreign Office (FCDO) officials to propose options after an extraordinary intervention by the Saudi crown prince over the case brought by Ghanem Al-Masarir, a prominent critic of the Saudi royal family. under asylum protection in the UK.
But the center of Al-Masarir for the cause Allegations that Saudi Arabia issued the maximum from his phone and that he was physically attacked by agents of the kingdom in London in 2018.
Nisl and the hacking of Al-Masarir’s phone was probably connected through the network Saudi Arabia it was confirmed by researchers at The Citizens Lab, University of Toronto, who are considered among the world’s leading experts in the research of digital surveillance of dissidents, journalists and other members of civil society.
The crown prince of Saudi Arabia led the court case with Cameron, then foreign secretary, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum meeting held in Riyadh in late April.
Prince Mohammed has followed previous lobbying pressure from senior Saudi officials, acting on his own warning, who announced that the event could have “implications for future Saudi investment in the UK, which is said to be more than £100bn”, according to a summary prepared by British authorities.
The custodian of the records obtained information through the freedom of information. It is the sum prepared by civil servants in a brief package for the subsequent ministerial visit to Saudi Arabia by Kemi Badenoch, the current Conservative leader, but then the trade secretary, in May 2024. The details emerged as Keir Starmer concludes the visit to the Middle. In the east, he speaks between the prince and the crown.
In January, the appeals court rejected a request by Saudi Arabia’s experts not to proceed with the case. The High Court had ruled in 2022 that he could proceed despite the state’s right to Saudi immunity after the kingdom failed to pay £210,000 in security for Al-Masarir’s expenses.
Al-Masarir said “it is disgusting and unacceptable” [the crown prince] He believes he can change the UK government to intervene in my legal case.
“For those recently in the UK to take action against my cause of action I believe that judicial systems around the world can be treated like Saudi Arabia – where the courts have never been independent and serve only to promote a personal agenda.”
Al-Masarir added: Prince Mohammed is trying to “strong arm the UK” to undermine the legal system. This blatant attempt to arm Saudi funds is not only an attack on justice for me but on the independence of the UK judiciary.”
British officials, who were not named in public records, noted the 2022 high court ruling as “somewhat of a new legal opinion” in the judges’ finding that only part of the alleged wrongdoing occurred in the UK. They noted: “We are asking if there is any possibility of that.” [the UK government] they sought to contest this interpretation in court.
The summary said the intervention of Prince Mohammed “resigns the Saudi deputy foreign minister, a senior adviser to the royal court and the Saudi national security adviser previously raised at [Prince Mohammed’s] warning”.
He added: “The Saudis are concerned that the ruling prejudice in this case would cut the principle of sovereign immunity, which in turn could have implications for public affairs.
“The issue has been exacerbated by the debate in the UK (and elsewhere) about the use of seized Russian assets to help Ukraine financially, which has also been raised by Saudi officials (including finance, trade and investment) on multiple occasions over the last two years.”
Any intervention now provokes a challenge to the UK’s chief legislative officer, Richard Hermer KC. Before his appointment as attorney general in Starmer’s government, Hermer asked for Al-Masarir’s lawyer in his high court.
The fight marks the latest example of Prince Mohammed seeking the legal protections granted to princes in courts around the world to escape legal accountability for alleged acts of transnational repression carried out by the Saudi state.
Two years ago, a A US judge dismissed the case against the crown prince that he claimed to have conspired to kill the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In ruling, the judge said the crown prince was entitled to immunity despite “credible allegations” that he was involved in the murder.
Judge John Bates, a US district judge, acknowledged the “trouble” at the time of sentencing, but said his hands were effectively tied. Biden on the recommendation of the administration that Mohammed the prince was granted immunity.
The decision to grant immunity came shortly after the crown prince was suddenly promoted to the office of prime minister, a move that human rights defenders said was a clever way to evade accountability.
According to a summary of the talks published by Downing Street, Starmer invited the crown prince to the UK and expressed the hope that the two leaders could watch a football game between meetings.
The British government declined to say whether it was still considering its options.