RIYADH (Middle East Eye) – Saudi Arabia has appointed a detective accused of being involved in the cover-up of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder to the country’s top terrorism court, a prominent rights group said, citing a Saudi government document.
The decree, originally issued on 9 June and obtained by Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn), appointed Awadh bin Ali bin Ayedh al-Mayshar al-Ahmari to serve as the president of the Specialized Criminal Court.
In total, the decree appointed at least 10 detectives and prosecutors to serve as judges in the court, a move Dawn says is unprecedented in the kingdom.
According to the rights group, Ahmari was involved in the cover-up of the murder of Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and a columnist for The Washington Post.
He travelled in 2018 with Saudi Attorney-General Saud al-Mojeb to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where Khashoggi was killed, in order to investigate the matter.
A 2019 report by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings said the Saudi delegation who arrived at the scene helped to clean up evidence of the murder and prevented Turkish authorities from accessing the crime scene.
“The crown prince is appointing loyalist security officials who lack even basic training as judges to its kangaroo ‘counter-terrorism’ court, punishing the mildest social dissent with shocking sentences,” Abdullah Alaoudh, Persian Gulf director at Dawn, said in a statement.
“Rewarding a detective involved in the cover-up of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder with an appointment to head this court is only the latest snub to accountability for the murder, and a glimpse into the government’s staggering disregard for justice and due process.”
The decree was issued by Saudi Arabia ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to the kingdom. Biden had come into office promising to hold Riyadh accountable for Khashoggi’s killing, and early in his term released a redacted intelligence report concluding Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for the killing.