At least twenty Saudi officials have gone on trial in absentia in Turkey on Friday, over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist. In October 2018, Jamal was killed at the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul.
Those being tried in turkey include two former top aides to the Saudi crown prince, Mohammad Bin Salman. Khashoggi was a vocal critic of the crown prince. Riyadh also carried out a separate trial over the killing that was heavily criticized internationally as incomplete.
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The beginning of the trial in Istanbul follows an international outcry over the murder of Khashoggi, which also tarnished the reputation of the crown prince MBS. Turkey’s prosecution alleged Ahmad al-Asiri, the former deputy head of the Saudi intelligence and Saud al-Qahtani of having led the incident and instructed the hit team.
Meanwhile, eighteen other defendants are accused of having suffocated Khashoggi, whose remains have not been found anywhere. However, Turkish authorities have accused the body was dismembered and removed to an unknown site.
Khashoggi was a resident in the US and seeking the papers for his impending message. He entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Hatice Cengiz, the wife of the victim, is also attending the trial along with Agnes Callamard, United Nations’ rapporteur on extrajudicial killings. Agnes has already directly linked the kingdom’s crown prince with journalist’s killing, AFP reported.
Initially, the Saudi authorities categorically denied any involvement in the case, however, later called it a ‘’rogue operation’’. For more than weeks after the death, conflicting narratives emerged over how he died, who was responsible, and where are the remains.
Five people were sentenced to death by a court in Saudi Arabia in December, and three were sent to jail over the killing. But the defendants were not named, and the trail remained secretive.
