International Probe Sought on Khashoggi Death Anniversary
ISTANBUL (Dispatches) – Global rights groups called Friday for an international enquiry to establish the truth behind the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul’s Saudi consulate two years ago.
People, including the Washington Post contributor’s friends, held a protest vigil outside the walled compound where the 59-year-old was strangled and cut into pieces by a Saudi hit squad on October 2, 2018.
"A travesty of justice was shown by verdicts that lack transparency and that fell well short of bringing those who issued the hit order to account,” Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a joint statement distributed outside the consulate.
Meanwhile, on the second anniversary of journalist Khashoggi’s brutal killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the Turkish government has called on Saudi authorities to send the "henchmen” responsible for the murder to Turkey to stand trial.
"Jamal’s killers have since been exfiltrated. Harboured. Brought to a show trial. Allowed to walk free,” said Fahrettin Altun, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s communications director, in a tweet.
"We all know Jamal’s killers. Let’s make them pay: Send the Saudi henchmen to Turkey. Let them appear in a public court with international observers. Cooperate with the criminal investigation in Turkey – the only investigation that was ever intended to shed light on what happened.”
Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by Saudi government agents at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018.
Initially, officials in Riyadh insisted that the journalist had left the building alive. After almost three weeks of denial, they acknowledged that Khashoggi was murdered but portrayed the assassination as a rogue operation of which the country’s top leaders were not aware.
Since the murder, Turkish prosecutors have filed two separate indictments detailing the gruesome killing and connecting it to the Saudi leadership, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In July, the trial in absentia of 20 Saudi suspects began in Istanbul, including two senior aides to the crown prince.
A second indictment filed by the Istanbul prosecutor earlier this week, coinciding with the second anniversary of the murder, concerned the cleaning team that had been dispatched to the consulate to remove any forensic evidence at the crime scene before Turkish authorities could take samples.
People, including the Washington Post contributor’s friends, held a protest vigil outside the walled compound where the 59-year-old was strangled and cut into pieces by a Saudi hit squad on October 2, 2018.
"A travesty of justice was shown by verdicts that lack transparency and that fell well short of bringing those who issued the hit order to account,” Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in a joint statement distributed outside the consulate.
Meanwhile, on the second anniversary of journalist Khashoggi’s brutal killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the Turkish government has called on Saudi authorities to send the "henchmen” responsible for the murder to Turkey to stand trial.
"Jamal’s killers have since been exfiltrated. Harboured. Brought to a show trial. Allowed to walk free,” said Fahrettin Altun, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s communications director, in a tweet.
"We all know Jamal’s killers. Let’s make them pay: Send the Saudi henchmen to Turkey. Let them appear in a public court with international observers. Cooperate with the criminal investigation in Turkey – the only investigation that was ever intended to shed light on what happened.”
Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by Saudi government agents at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018.
Initially, officials in Riyadh insisted that the journalist had left the building alive. After almost three weeks of denial, they acknowledged that Khashoggi was murdered but portrayed the assassination as a rogue operation of which the country’s top leaders were not aware.
Since the murder, Turkish prosecutors have filed two separate indictments detailing the gruesome killing and connecting it to the Saudi leadership, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
In July, the trial in absentia of 20 Saudi suspects began in Istanbul, including two senior aides to the crown prince.
A second indictment filed by the Istanbul prosecutor earlier this week, coinciding with the second anniversary of the murder, concerned the cleaning team that had been dispatched to the consulate to remove any forensic evidence at the crime scene before Turkish authorities could take samples.