Federal Judge Allows Victims of 9/11 to Sue Saudi Arabia
A judge ruled against a request by Saudi Arabia to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the country of materially supporting the terrorist group al-Qaeda
Almost 24 years after the tragedy that changed the world, Judge George Daniels, of the federal court for the southern district of New York, gave the green light to the victims' families to continue their lawsuit against Saudi Arabia, a long-running case in this court.
Saudi Arabia, a US ally, had always denied the accusations and continues the legal battle against its plaintiffs, mostly relatives of victims. The country claims a “lack of jurisdiction” to try him under the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA).
However, in a landmark ruling, a federal judge in New York decided Thursday that Saudi Arabia can face a civil lawsuit alleging the kingdom sponsored, aided, and abetted al-Qaeda hijackers.
Families of 9/11 victims called the judge’s decision to reject Saudi Arabia’s request to dismiss the lawsuit “the most significant step so far” in two decades of litigation.
Lawyers representing Saudi Arabia sought to dismiss the lawsuits by the victims’ families and estates, first filed in 2003, arguing that as a sovereign state, it is immune from civil litigation in U.S. courts.
However, U.S. District Judge George Daniels said the families provided “reasonable evidence” that two Saudi citizens, Omar al-Bayoumi and Fahad al-Thumairy were sent by their government to the United States to assist the hijackers.
In 2017, relatives of 800 9/11 victims filed a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia in the Southern District of New York court for alleged complicity in the attack, demanding financial compensation for the victims and their families.
The controversy has focused mainly on two of the hijackers: Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who were on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon and who a year before the attacks settled in Los Angeles, where the also Saudi Omar al-Bayoumi helped them get an apartment. All three are named in the case.
Families of some of the victims and their attorneys have alleged that Bayoumi had deep ties to the Saudi Arabian government.
“We welcome the court’s thorough and well-reasoned decision and look forward to the case moving forward to trial,” Sean P. Carter, an attorney representing the families, said in a statement.