ALARMING

FBI: Saudi Arabia ‘Almost Certainly’ Aids Citizens in Escaping U.S. Prosecution

The agency said the country is “undermining the US judicial process.”

The FBI believes Saudi Arabia “almost certainly” helps its citizens flee the U.S. after they've been accused of serious crimes, The Oregonian reports. In a newly declassified August intelligence bulletin obtained by the newspaper, the agency said it believes the country “undermin(es) the US judicial process” to avoid embarrassment and that the practice will continue without American government intervention. “(Saudi) officials are unlikely to alter this practice in the near term unless the US Government (USG) directly addresses this issue with (Saudi Arabia) and ties US cooperation on (Saudi) priorities to ceasing this activity,” the document read. The redacted bulletin did not specify how the Saudi government was helping their citizens escape the U.S. justice system, nor did it contain information on how widespread the issue was. The newspaper previously found numerous cases of Saudi suspects across the country vanishing after they were accused of serious crimes like rape and manslaughter. Cases were found in Oregon, Montana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin, and Canada. Some of the 25 total cases identified dated back three decades.