Turkey Charges 20 Saudis over Khashoggi Murder

By Staff, Agencies

Turkish prosecutors on Wednesday announced that they have charged 20 Saudi nationals in connection to the suspected murder of Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, a Saudi regime critic, is believed to have been murdered at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 by what Ankara says was a hit squad sent from Riyadh.

"Evidence collected during my mission to Turkey shows [a] prima facie case that Mr. Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the state of Saudi Arabia," UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard said at the end of a visit to Turkey.

Turkey said Khashoggi was killed by a team of 15 Saudis who strangled him at the mission, and media reports have said his body was cut up and dissolved in acid.

Riyadh, after denying the killing weeks, eventually described it as a "rogue" operation but denied any involvement by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.