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Extracted Text (OCR)
788
purposes of the FSIA. A “foreign state” is
statutorily defined:
(a) A “foreign state” ... includes a po-
litical subdivision of a foreign state or an
agency or instrumentality of a foreign
state as defined in subsection (b).
(b) An “agency or instrumentality of a
foreign state” means any entity -
(1) which is a separate legal person,
corporate or otherwise, and
(2) which is an organ of a foreign
state or political subdivision thereof,
or a majority of whose shares or other
ownership interest is owned by a for-
eign state or political subdivision
thereof, and
(8) which is neither a citizen of a
State of the United States ... nor
created under the laws of any third
country.
28 U.S.C. § 1603. There is no dispute
that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a
foreign state. The status of each of the
Princes and NCB are discussed below.
1. Prince Sultan and Prince Turki
Several courts have recognized that
“lilmmunity under the FSIA extends also
to agents of a foreign state acting in their
official capacities [since] ‘i]t is generally
recognized that a suit against an individual
acting in his official capacity is the prac-
tical equivalent of a suit against the sover-
eign directly’”™ Bryks v. Canadian
Broad. Corp. 906 F.Supp. 204, 210
(S.D.N.Y.1995) (quoting Chuidian v. Phil-
ippine Natl Bank, 912 F.2d 1095, 1101
(9th Cir.1990) (“Nowhere in the text or
legislative history does Congress state that
individuals are not encompassed within 28
U.S.C. § 1603(b).”)); see also Velasco v.
Gov't of Indonesia, 370 F.8d 392, 398-99
(4th Cir.2004) (collecting cases extending
23. The FSIA is silent on the subject. Neither
the Supreme Court nor the Second Circuit
349 FEDERAL SUPPLEMENT, 2d SERIES
FSIA immunity to individuals sued in their
official capacities); Byrd v. Corporacion
Forestal y Industrial de Olancho S.A., 182
F.3d 380, 388 (th Cir.1999) (acknowl-
edging the FSIA protects individuals to
the extent they act within their official
duties); El-Fadl v. Cent. Bank of Jordan,
75 F.3d 668, 671 (D.C.Cir.1996) (dismissing
claims against government officials since
they were sued in their official capacities);
Leutwyler, 184 F.Supp.2d at 286-87 “(I]t
has been generally recognized that individ-
uals employed by a foreign state’s agencies
or instrumentalities are deemed ‘foreign
states’ when they are sued for actions un-
dertaken within the scope of their official
capacities.”) (citing Bryks, 906 F.Supp. at
210); Flatow v. Islamic Republic of Iran,
999 F.Supp. 1, 11 n. 3 (D.D.C.1998) (noting
favorable practice of applying FSIA to in-
dividuals). Thus, this Court finds that im-
munity may be available to Prince Sultan,
as the third-highest ranking member of
the Saudi government, and to Prince
Turki, as the Director of Saudi Arabia’s
Department of General Intelligence, to the
extent their alleged actions were per-
formed in their official capacities.
[10] The Federal Plaintiffs argue that
the FSIA cannot apply to Prince Turki
because, as of September 10, 2003 when
the complaint was filed, Prince Turki was
the Saudi ambassador to the United King-
dom, a position the Federal Plaintiffs al-
lege is not entitled to immunity under the
FSIA. In support of this argument, the
Federal Plaintiffs cite Dole Food Co. v.
Patrickson, 538 U.S. 468, 480, 123 S.Ct.
1655, 155 L.Ed.2d 643 (2003), in which the
Supreme Court held that instrumentality
status is determined at the time of the
filing of the complaint.
has specifically addressed the issue.
HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017853
Extracted Information
Dates
Document Details
| Filename | HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017853.jpg |
| File Size | 0.0 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 85.0% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 3,497 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-04T16:33:13.519853 |