Wife of Slain Saudi Journalist Appealing Her Spyware Case Dismissal to 4th Circuit

Plaintiff Hanan Elatr Khashoggi is appealing to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia's Oct. 26 dismissal of her complaint against NSO Group Technologies and Q Cyber Technologies for lack of personal jurisdiction, said her notice of appeal Tuesday (docket 1:23-cv-00779). Khashoggi’s seven-count complaint alleges NSO and Q Cyber infiltrated her phones with spyware that the Saudi and United Arab Emirates governments used to track the movements of her husband, Saudi journalist and human rights activist Jamal Khashoggi, before his October 2018 murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The court has a responsibility to decide preliminary issues, such as jurisdiction, “before reaching the merits of a claim,” said District Judge Leonie Brinkema’s memorandum opinion. Though plaintiff Khashoggi “presents a compelling description of her loss from the alleged conduct” of NSO and Q Cyber, the court has no choice but to conclude that it doesn’t have personal jurisdiction over the defendants, it said.