Turkey Transfers Khashoggi Murder Trial to Saudi Arabia, Likely Ending the Case
Jamal Khashoggi. (Bruce Detorres/Flickr)
Turkey is facing heavy criticism after a Turkish court ruled to suspend the trial in absentia of 26 Saudis accused in the killing of the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, a move that will likely end the case and that deals a significant blow to human rights and press freedom advocates who have pressed for accountability.
Human rights groups had cautioned that turning the case over to Saudi Arabia would lead to the killing being covered up because the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is under suspicion.
“By transferring the case of a murder that was committed on its territory, Turkey will be knowingly and willingly sending the case back into the hands of those who bear its responsibility,” said Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard. “Indeed, the Saudi system has repeatedly failed to cooperate with the Turkish prosecutor and it is clear that justice cannot be delivered by a Saudi court. What has happened to Turkey’s declared commitment that justice must prevail for this gruesome murder and that this case would never become a pawn in political calculations and interest?”
Human Rights Watch (HRW) also criticized the move.
“Given the complete lack of judicial independence in Saudi Arabia, the role of the Saudi government in Khashoggi’s killing, its past attempts at obstructing justice, and a criminal justice system that fails to satisfy basic standards of fairness, chances of a fair trial for the Khashoggi case in Saudi Arabia are close to nil,” the organization said in a statement.
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's Turkish fiancee who on October 2, 2018 had waited outside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul where Khashoggi was killed by a Saudi hit squad after entering to obtain paperwork needed for their upcoming marriage expressed her disappointment in the ruling.
“The case was slowly coming to a halt in previous hearings... and I had begun to grow hopeless but I did not expect such a decision," she told Reuters. "Saudi Arabia is a country where we know there is no justice. No one expects a just decision there."
Saudi Arabia had initially denied any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance but claimed via state media in October 2018 that Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist, had been strangled in a fistfight with 15 men sent to confront him at the Saudi consulate in Turkey. The kingdom blamed some of the crown prince's inner circle for the murder, and several high-ranking officials were dismissed if not detained outright. Around the same time, sources familiar with Khashoggi's case told CNN that Khashoggi’s murder “was organized by a high-ranking officer with the General Intelligence Presidency, Saudi Arabia’s main intelligence service.”
The following year, Saudi Arabia sentenced five men to death and three other men to prison terms over Khashoggi’s killing but the death sentences were commuted to prison terms after one of Khashoggi’s sons pardoned the killers.
The Turkish court said it would resume the trial in Turkey if it was not satisfied with the outcome of proceedings in Saudi Arabia. However, Saudi officials have said that they believe the case is closed, citing their own trials.
