Final Act in the Khashoggi Case?
This decision regarding Hanan Elatr’s asylum status may be seen as a significant development in the long-running Khashoggi case. At one point, the incident strained U.S.-Saudi relations, but tensions were overlooked during the Trump administration and reconciled by the Biden administration’s decision to grant sovereign immunity to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the CIA determined had ordered Khashoggi’s murder.
Political Asylum for Hanan Elatr
Representative Don Beyer (D-Va.) expressed satisfaction over Hanan Elatr’s successful bid for political asylum, stating that she had an unmistakable case for such protection. In her asylum application, Elatr detailed the mistreatment her family faced in Egypt, including detention, passport confiscation, and abuse due to her association with Khashoggi. She also mentioned the UAE’s interrogation and detention of her in 2018, during which her phones were allegedly infected with military-grade spyware.
Compensation and Investigation
Randa Fahmy, Elatr’s attorney, confirmed that Elatr is seeking compensation from the Saudi government for her husband’s death. She is also demanding the return of Khashoggi’s phones from Turkey for further analysis. The UAE, a close ally of Saudi Arabia, has denied accusations of planting spyware on Elatr’s devices and spying on civil society activists and dissatisfied members of the royal family, as was previously reported by The Washington Post.
Jamal Khashoggi’s Criticism of Bin Salman
Jamal Khashoggi, a former Saudi Embassy worker in Washington, had become a vocal critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s oppressive measures and imprisonment of individuals advocating for freedom of expression and democratic reforms. By 2018, Khashoggi had received warnings against returning to Saudi Arabia, leading him to settle in Northern Virginia, where he previously had ties.
The Events of October 2018
In October 2018, as Khashoggi was preparing to marry Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish academic, he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to retrieve a document. However, investigators later determined that he was strangled, dismembered, and his body parts were transported out of the consulate in luggage. Following these horrific events, Elatr flew to Washington and sought refuge in her lawyer’s apartment, living in fear for a year and a half.
Awaiting Asylum
At the age of 53, Elatr found herself residing in a stranger’s basement bedroom while awaiting the resolution of her political asylum case. With the recent granting of asylum, she can now begin to rebuild her life in the United States.
The Biden Administration’s Actions
During his presidential campaign, Joe Biden referred to Saudi Arabia as a “pariah” state. However, after assuming office, he extended a reconciliatory hand to Crown Prince Mohammed by granting him sovereign immunity, effectively ending a civil lawsuit brought against him for Khashoggi’s murder by Hatice Cengiz.