Jamal Khashoggi murdered by Saudi state, says UN probe
Prominent critic of Riyadh regime ‘was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing’
UN investigators say they have evidence that suggests the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate was “planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia”.
In her preliminary report, UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard said that she and her team of three experts “could not firmly establish whether the original intention was to abduct Khashoggi, with his murder planned only in the eventuality of this abduction failing”. But she added that evidence indicates the killing, in October, was premeditated.
The report also claims the Saudi regime “seriously curtailed and undermined” the Turkish investigation into the murder. Turkish authorities were not allowed into the consulate for the first 13 days after the dissident Saudi journalist was killed.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Callamard said that Saudi killers had exploited diplomatic immunity to escape prosecution in Europe for Khashoggi’s death. “Guarantees of immunity were never intended to facilitate the commission of a crime and exonerate its authors of their criminal responsibility or to conceal a violation of the right to life,” she said. “The circumstances of the killing and the response by state representatives in its aftermath may be described as ‘immunity for impunity’.”
The UN team “also attacked Saudi Arabia’s trial of 11 suspects in the case”, saying their prosecution raises “major concerns” about transparency and fairness, reports the BBC.
“I have requested an official country visit to Saudi Arabia so that the authorities there can directly provide me with relevant evidence,” Callamard wrote in her report.
Khashoggi’s killing “provoked widespread revulsion and tarnished the image of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman”, who was “previously admired in the West for pushing deep changes including tax reform, infrastructure projects and allowing women to drive”, says Reuters.
The publication of the UN preliminary findings comes as US media reports that the prince, the country’s de-facto leader, had told a senior aide in 2017 that he would go after Khashoggi “with a bullet”.
American intelligence analysts “concluded that Prince Mohammed might not have meant the phrase literally - in other words, he did not necessarily mean to have Khashoggi shot - but more likely he used the phrase as a metaphor to emphasise that he had every intention of killing the journalist if he did not return to Saudi Arabia”, reports The New York Times.
The conversation was intercepted by US intelligence agencies, as part of routine efforts to capture and store the communications of global leaders, including allies, the newspaper adds.
The Saudis have consistently denied that the prince had any involvement in the murder.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Duchess of Gloucester: the hard-working royal you've never heard of
Under The Radar Outer royal 'never expected' to do duties but has stepped up to the plate
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Are 'judge shopping' rules a blow to Republicans?
Today's Big Question How the abortion pill case got to the Supreme Court
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Climate change is driving Indian women to choose sterilization
under the radar Faced with losing their jobs, they are making a life-altering decision
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Why are kidnappings in Nigeria on the rise again?
Today's Big Question Hundreds of children and displaced people are missing as kidnap-for-ransom 'bandits' return
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
How the idyllic Galapagos Islands became staging post in world drug trade
Under the radar Ecuador's crackdown on gang violence forces drug traffickers into Pacific routes to meet cocaine demand
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Armed gangs, prison breaks and on-air hostages: how Ecuador was plunged into crisis
The Explainer Gangs launch deadly revenge after president declares state of emergency following escape of feared drug boss from prison
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Ecuador tips toward chaos amid prison breaks, armed TV takeover
Speed Read New President Daniel Noboa authorized the military to 'neutralize' powerful drug-linked gangs after they unleashed violence and terror across Ecuador
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Prague shooting: student kills 14 people at university
Speed reads Police believe suspect, who killed himself, may have shot his father before carrying out mass murder
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Ex-US diplomat confessed spying for Cuba to undercover agent, FBI says
Speed Read DOJ says former US ambassador Manuel Rocha perpetrated 'one of the highest-reaching and longest-lasting infiltrations of the United States government by a foreign agent'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Death of first non-binary judge in Mexico instils fear in LGBTQ+ community
Under the Radar Jesús Ociel Baena's suspected murder reveals dangers to transgender and non-binary people
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published