Saudi attorney general says Khashoggi murder was premeditated - UN special rapporteur says Saudi state responsible

RT
Thu, 25 Oct 2018 15:20 UTC

© REUTERS / Dinuka Liyanawatte

A member of Sri Lankan web journalist association holds a placard during a protest condemning the murder of slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi in front of the Saudi Embassy in Colombo.

Saudi Arabian prosecutors have said evidence supplied by Turkey indicates that the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was premeditated, suggesting a change from Riyadh's earlier claim that his death had been accidental.

The announcement was made by the kingdom's attorney general and released through the official Saudi Press Agency. Prosecutors are now interrogating suspects on the basis of the information provided earlier by Ankara.

"Public prosecution received information from the Turkish side through the Joint Working Group between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Turkey that indicates that the suspects in that incident had done their act with a prior intention," the statement said.

Khashoggi, a self-exiled, opposition Saudi journalist, was last seen on October 2 entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul. The kingdom had initially denied anything had happened to the prominent writer while in the consulate, but later admitted that he had died following an apparent "fistfight."

The international response on how best deal with Saudi Arabia as details of the murder become clearer has been mixed.

Calling Khashoggi's death a "monstrosity," German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suspended all German arms sales to Saudi Arabia while an investigation is underway.

France said it would back sanctions against those found guilty of Khashoggi's death, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying he had not ruled out "punitive measures" against Riyadh if the kingdom was found responsible.

Canada and Spain have both condemned the killing, but have said their controversial arms deals with Riyadh will remain in place.

Comment: UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Execution Agnes Callamard said at the UN headquarters in New York City on Thursday:

"It is not quite possible for the state to wash its hands from the behavior of those actors," Callamard told reporters. "They were representing the state when they acted as they acted."

"Even Saudi Arabia has admitted that the crime was premeditated ... From where I sit, this bears all the hallmark of extrajudicial executions. Until I am proven otherwise I must assume that this was the case. It is up to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to prove that it was not," Callamard said.

Callamard said she had concluded that the Saudi government officials who orchestrated Khashoggi's killing were high enough in position to represent the state and that she had no information that they had acted in a completely rogue fashion.

In related news, the Saudi government has stopped preventing Khashoggi's son from leaving the country. Unsurprisingly, once free to leave, he immediately left for the US, according to Human Rights Watch.

"Good news for a change: confirming that Jamal Khashoggi son Salah and his family are finally out of Riyadh and on their way to the US, travel ban lifted," Whitson said via Twitter." Too bad Salah had to endure that cruel and bizarre greeting with MBS [Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman] first."