WASHINGTON (Middle East Eye) – A
United States district judge has ordered two airlines to preserve a set of flight records that former Saudi spy chief Saad al-Jabri argues is essential to his legal battle against Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).
The judge issued a preservation order, seen by Middle East Eye, which states that Air Canada and Lufthansa must not destroy any evidence showing that Saudi agents identified by Jabri had travelled on flights to Canada.
He ruled the records must be readily available if the ongoing lawsuit against MBS survives a motion to dismiss it.
“The Court finds that there is substantial reason to believe that the airlines—Air Canada and Lufthansa—will fail to preserve the evidence [Jabri] has identified,” the order said.
It added that “the destruction of the evidence would result in irreparable harm because, once destroyed, the evidence cannot be used for any purpose and cannot be recreated”.
The order comes after Jabri filed a motion earlier this month to subpoena the two airlines for the set of flight records, which he alleges show that members of a Saudi hit team - known as the Tiger Squad - travelled on the two airlines to Canada in an attempt to kill him in 2018.
In the motion, Jabri says that Air Canada confirmed “that relevant information pertaining to the Tiger Squad’s October 2018 flight to Canada” did exist, but refused to take any steps to preserve the evidence without a court order.
While the judge dismissed Jabri’s motion, saying it was too early to bring the records to court, the decision could eventually provide the essential evidence Jabri needs to help his legal case.
“This is a significant step towards holding MBS accountable for an ongoing transnational repression campaign against al-Jabri family that included an attempt on Dr Saad’s life and kidnapping two of his children,” a source familiar with the case and the plight of the Jabri family told MEE.
“It is a significant win because MBS’s lawyers and his co-counsel in their desperate opposition to the production of these documents have basically shown their hands. They are concerned and so is MBS.”
A spokesperson for Lufthansa told MEE that the company “does not comment on ongoing investigations and legal disputes”.