Case handed over to Saudi Arabia: Turkey wants to drop Khashoggi proceedings

Case handed over to Saudi Arabia
Turkey wants to end Khashoggi proceedings

In 2018, the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi shook the world. The case is being taken up by the Turkish public prosecutor’s office. The procedure raises hopes for clarification – but is now to be discontinued without a result.

The Turkish prosecutor’s office has requested that the case in the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi be dropped. The case should be handed over to the authorities in Saudi Arabia, the state news agency Anadolu quoted the prosecutor as saying in a hearing. The court’s decision is still pending.

In Turkey, 26 people have been charged in connection with the murder. The start of the proceedings had raised hopes, among other things, that relatives would actually be enlightened. However, the court hears in the absence of the accused.

Khashoggi was killed on October 2, 2018 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a special commando from Riyadh. The Saudi government only acknowledged the killing after international pressure. A UN special rapporteur found evidence that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may be personally responsible.

The case had severely deteriorated relations between Ankara and Riyadh. Both countries had recently come closer again.

Former advisor to the crown prince is the main suspect

The main suspects in the case are a former close adviser to the crown prince and the country’s former deputy chief of intelligence. They are accused of inciting other defendants to murder under torture.

In a previous trial in Saudi Arabia, five men had been sentenced to death. Turkey had sharply criticized the verdicts at the time and called solving the murder on Turkish soil a “moral obligation”. Many also complained at the time that the real perpetrators were still at large.

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