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Human Rights Association's (İHD) Commission Against Disappearance in Custody and Saturday Mothers/People have made a statement for the press on the occasion of International Week of the Disappeared in front of Saudi Arabia's Consulate General building in İstanbul, where Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was disappeared in October 2018.
In their statement for the press entitled "Where is Jamal Khashoggi? Where are our disappeared?", the friends and relatives of the ones disappeared in custody in Turkey as well as several rights defenders have demanded that the fates of the disappeared be revealed and the ones responsible for their disappearance be put on trial as the law requires:
"As the friends and relatives of the ones disappeared in custody in Turkey and rights defenders, we start this year's International Week of the Disappeared here, because this consulate general building, which we are standing in front of, is a crime scene.
"Journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a citizen of Saudi Arabia who entered this building for consular formalities, could not leave this building.
"It has been 197 days since Khashoggi was disappeared. Though there are allegations indicating that he was killed with inhuman methods, the Saudi state did not take the blame for this execution."
'Put an end to unlawful bans'
In their statement, rights defenders have also referred to the ban imposed on Saturday Mothers/People's weekly sit-in protests at Galatasaray Square since their 700th week. Making a call to the authorities, they have stated,
"We are inviting the government to return to the boundaries of law and put an end to its unlawful bans imposed on Saturday Mothers/People."
What happened?Journalist Khashoggi was disappeared after entering the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Beşiktaş, İstanbul on October 2, 2018. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia officially confirmed on October 20 that the journalist was killed inside the consulate. The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office released a press statement on October 31, giving the following information: "Jamal Khashoggi went to the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for paperwork related to his marriage on October 2, 2018. As soon as he entered the consulate building, in a premeditated murder, he was suffocated to death and his body was dismembered and destroyed." About Jamal KhashoggiJournalist-writer 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)
* Source: Mezopotamya Agency
