Two years on, journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder still unsolved

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Two years on, the main figures accused in the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul have not been held accountable, but this cannot go on forever.

Friday marks the two-year anniversary of the murder of Khashoggi, a jounrlst from Saudi Arabia who was killed in the Kingdom's Consulate in İstanbul. His body has never been found, with reports suggesting it was dismembered.

Activists and human rights groups have said the murder was premeditated and carried out upon directives of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a charge Riyadh denies.

In September, the chief prosecutor in Saudi Arabia announced the final verdicts for eight defendants tried in the Khashoggi case. Five of the defendants were sentenced to 20 years, one to 10 years and the two remaining to seven years each in prison.

Justice was denied by the failure to disclose the identities of the defendants or who got which sentence, strengthening allegations that the trial was merely a coverup.

Political Trial

Alaa Abdel-Monsef, a lawyer and head of the London-based Salam International Organization for the Protection of Human Rights, said, "The circumstances of the secret trial [in Riyadh] indicate that the whole matter is political set up to show that Saudi Arabia has applied the law and tried criminals," according to Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency (AA).

He asserted that "the main factor affecting the case is the blatant interference of the Saudi authorities in the trial, as members of the royal family were nominated."

Abdel-Monsef said, "Had it not been for international pressure, the United Nations, and the transparency of the Turkish institutions and the media and the international community, the case would have been completely buried."

It is noteworthy here that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Callamard, has always followed up the case since the crime occurred in Istanbul.

In March 2020, the Turkey's Public Prosecution issued an indictment against 18 suspects in the case, and about four months later, the first session of the Turkish judiciary began to try them in absentia.

Abdel-Monsef also accused some Western agencies without naming them of "deliberately turning a blind eye" to perpetrators of the crime because of vested interests in Saudi Arabia.

In a 101-page report published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the summer of 2019, Saudi Arabia was held responsible for "deliberately" killing Khashoggi, noting that there is documented evidence for the investigation of senior officials, including bin Salman.

Khasgoggi's fiance calls for G20 boycott

Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, called on G20 countries yesterday (October 1) not to participate in this year's summit in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh.

In an article in The Washington Post on the eve of the second anniversary of Khashoggi's murder, Cengiz recalled that Saudi Arabia will be hosting the 15th annual summit of leaders of the Group of 20 economies in November.

"The most logical thing for world leaders to do today — the best punishment for the Saudi crown prince right now, even if it comes too late — is not to attend this virtual summit," said Cengiz in her piece titled "We have been deprived of Jamal Khashoggi's voice. But his silence says it all."

She was referring to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who likely ordered the killing of the journalist, according to reports by the UN and other independent organizations.

"This would be a way to avoid giving any additional legitimacy to the current Saudi administration that bears the responsibility for this murder and is still managing to escape its consequences," she added.

(HA/VK)