The first comment from Saudi Arabia on summoning bin Salman to...

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia called on Wednesday not to use the principle of universal jurisdiction to undermine the sovereignty of states and to interfere in their affairs.
This came during a speech delivered by the head of the Kingdom’s permanent delegation to the United Nations, Nidaa Abu Ali, at the meeting of the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, reported by the official Saudi Press Agency.
Abu Ali said that her country calls for “not to use the principle of universal jurisdiction in order to undermine the principle of state sovereignty and to interfere in their internal affairs and immunity, and to achieve equality between states in applying this.”
She emphasized that “any attempt to implement universal jurisdiction without giving consideration to these fundamentals is an excuse and an entry point for politicizing the judiciary in countries.”
She added, “Resorting to jurisdiction should be in certain cases of serious crimes, and in cases where the countries in which the crimes were committed are unwilling or unable to exercise their jurisdiction.”
Riyadh’s call comes a week after a US court summoned Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and 9 others, in the case of former intelligence member Saad al-Jabri, who accused them of trying to assassinate him.
Last August, al-Jabri filed a lawsuit against bin Salman in an American court, accusing him of sending a team to kill him in Canada, similar to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.

(Anatolia)