* Photograph: Serhat Çağdaş - İstanbul / Anadolu Agency
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Saturday Mothers/People and Human Rights Association (İHD) İstanbul Branch Commission Against Disappearance in Custody have made a demand for justice on the occasion that it has been a month since the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered.
On October 20, Saudi Arabia made an official statement about Khashoggi, whose fate and whereabouts had not been known as of October 2, 2018 at 1 a.m., when he was last seen while entering the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in İstanbul, and confirmed that he was killed inside the building. It has not yet been announced where the dead body of Khashoggi is.
While the fiancee and family of the journalist as well as rights organizations and international institutions have been making calls and demands for the announcement of the whereabouts of Khashoggi's deceased body, the Prosecutor's Office has announced that the body of the journalist was annihilated. The investigation has still been continuing.
Emphasis on "right of burial"
In their statement, rights defenders have emphasized the "right of burial":
"In the first month of Jamal Khashoggi's death, we are repeating our demand that the incident be immediately brought to light in utter detail and justice be done. This atrocity, which concerns the whole family of humanity, should not be shadowed by political moves or diplomatic interests; all elements of the crime should be penalized as required by international law.
"Everyone has the right to bid farewell to their loved ones in accordance with their own beliefs and rituals. As families, who were denied these rights, we do not accept excuses. We are making a call to the authorities in Turkey to take an urgent action to find the deceased body of Jamal Khashoggi and deliver it to his loved ones."
Both Saturday Mothers/People and the Human Rights Organization made statements before and asked the fate and whereabouts of the journalist.
What happened?The whereabouts of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was a columnist at Washington Post newspaper and a citizen of Saudi Arabia, had not been known as of October 2, 2018, when he was last seen while entering the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in İstanbul. Reuters news agency and a number of journalists from Turkey as well as the Chair of Turkish-Arabic Media Association Turan Kışlakçı claimed that Jamal Khashoggi was killed and his body was taken out of the consulate. The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office also assigned a deputy chief prosecutor and a chief public prosecutor to conduct the judicial processes in the investigation launched by Turkey after the journalist, who has allegedly been killed, was reported to be missing. On October 16, the police conducted a search at the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia. One day later, on October 17, the consulate was examined for the second time and the residence of the Consul General of Saudi Arabia was also searched by the security forces. On October 20, the official news agency of Saudi Arabia, SPA reported that "Khashoggi "started to argue with other citizens of Saudi Arabia in the Consulate General in İstanbul, the argument turned into a row and Khashoggi lost his life as a result of this commotion." On October 22, 22 employees of the Consulate General, including the ones from Turkey and the foreign nationals, came to the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan to give their depositions as witnesses. The testimonies of 23 workers of the consulate were also taken on October 19. The investigation in Turkey has still been continuing. Public Prosecutor of Saudi Arabia Saud al-Mojeb came to Turkey as part of the Khashoggi investigation in Saudi Arabia and met the Public Prosecutor İrfan Fidan on October 29 and 30 and visited the District Directorate of National Intelligence Organization (MIT) of Turkey in the early morning hours on October 31. Afterwards, he returned to his country. On October 31, a statement was released from the İstanbul Public Prosecutor's Office, stating, "In accordance with a preconcieved plot, Jamal Khashoggi was immediately strangled as he stepped in the Saudi Istanbul Consulate on October 2 and his deceased body again in accordance with the same plan had been dismembered and annihilated." |
About Jamal Khashoggi
Journalist and writer Jamal Khashoggi was known for his opposing views about the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman and he was writing at the Washington Post about this issue.
After he expressed his criticisms about the reforms introduced by bin Salman and drew reactions, he left Saudi Arabia in 2017 and moved to the US.
He worked as Director General and Editor-in-Chief at the Al Arab Media Group. He was also a media consultant at the Saudi Arabia Embassy in England. (AS/SD)
