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NY Judge Greenlights Deposition of Saudi Officials in Lawsuit By 9/11 Victims’ Families

NY Judge Greenlights Deposition of Saudi Officials in Lawsuit By 9/11 Victims’ Families
folder_openUnited States access_time3 years ago
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By Staff, Agencies

A US judge ruled that the Saudi government must make 24 current and former officials available to testify on their knowledge of the 9/11 attacks, in a victory for victims’ families despite opposition from the Attorney General.

Riyadh was ordered to make the officials – including a prince and his chief of staff – available for deposition in a judgment made public on Thursday, just a day before the 19th anniversary of the worst terror attack ever to take place on US soil.

Manhattan federal Judge Sarah Netburn ruled the victims’ families have the right to question Saudi officials about their alleged roles in providing support to the 9/11 terrorists inside the US.

The families’ lawyers hailed the unprecedented decision. “No court has ever ordered a foreign nation to produce its highest-ranking ministers to provide testimony – let alone members of a royal family,” attorney Steve Pounian stated in a press release accompanying the unsealing of the decision – which, despite its publication, still contains several redacted passages.

“The Saudi government assumed it could hide documents and protect key officials from being questioned,” said attorney James Kreindler, another representative for the families. “That is clearly not the case.”

Attorney General William Barr has long sought to block the public release of classified documents requested by the families, insisting that it would put US national security at risk.

However, the accidental reveal in May of the long-classified name of a Saudi official said to have aided two of the 9/11 hijackers did not appear to have any of the threatened repercussions – though that didn’t stop the Justice Department from memory-holing the filing as soon as the media reported the name.

The families’ lawyers themselves had only been permitted to learn it last September – on the condition they didn’t tell anyone, including their clients.

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