Jamal Khashoggi: Court charges 20 Saudis in brutal killing of journalist

On Saturday a court in Turkey accepted an indictment on the 2018 brutal killing of Saudi author and journalist, Jamal Khashoggi (raḥimahu Allāhu).

Khashoggi was inhumanely murdered in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul. On 2^nd October 2018, Khashoggi walked into the Saudi consulate in order to acquire documentation confirming that he divorced his ex-wife. The 59-year-old was never to be seen again. [1]

In the days following the disappearance of Khashoggi, the story developed almost every day since then, with Turkish media reporting on the 15-man “hit-squad” who arrived and departed Istanbul on the same day, and releasing horrific detail of what occurred to the critic of the Saudi rulers, including torture and dismemberment. His body was never recovered.

Istanbul’s Heavy Penal Court No. 11 accepted the 117-page indictment prepared by Istanbul prosecutors accusing 20 Saudi nationals of involvement in the gruesome premeditated murder.

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Following the murder, the official response from the Saudi authorities was to meet all accusations with blanket denial and refuse consulate access to Turkish investigators. Consulate access was eventually granted, albeit after areas of the consulate were said to have been repainted, and a deep clean of the site carried out.

Saudi officials, including those at the highest level in government, denied and berated all claims of his murder for the first 17 days after his disappearance, but on the 20th October, finally acknowledged that he had been killed.

Khashoggi, who left Saudi Arabia in 2017, was critical of the Saudi authorities and wrote articles criticising the government. In 2017, he wrote an article for The Washington Post, titled: “Saudi Arabia wasn’t always this repressive. Now it’s unbearable.”

The murder of the journalist prompted worldwide outrage and increased scrutiny of Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who denies being involved in the killing. According to several reports by the UN and other independent organisations, Khashoggi was very likely killed on orders of the Crown Prince.

In his articles, Khashoggi would express his concern and was critical of the policies of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen.

Although the Crown Prince continues to completely deny any involvement in the killing of the journalist, a UN expert has called for the royal to be investigated. In addition, in a report released in June, an expert described the killing as a “premeditated extrajudicial execution”.

The indictment states that suspect Mansour Othman M. Abbahussain, working as major general and intelligence officer in Saudi Arabia, was tasked in the office of Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and was instructed by Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al-Asiri to bring Khashoggi back to the country and to kill him if he resisted. It further added that Abbahussain assembled a 15-man hit squad, including himself, for the murder. [2]

He also distributed tasks among the squad, separating them into three groups: intelligence, logistics, and negotiation.

In addition, the indictment accuses al-Asiri and Saud Al-Qahtani of incitement to deliberate killing through torture and seeks aggravated life sentences for both.

The indictment also accuses 18 other Saudi nationals and recommends aggravated life sentences for each of them.

According to the indictment, the 18 were in consensus over killing Khashoggi if he refused to return to Saudi Arabia and acted on the mutual decision to commit the crime.

The disappearance of Khashoggi came at a time where the Saudi authorities arrested scores of scholars and activists in what was seen as a significant shift in internal policy. The measures have been dubbed by some as a precursor to introducing more secular-leaning laws. [3]

Amongst the dozens of prominent scholars, activists and academics arrested by the Saudi authorities, are Sheikh Salman al-Awda, Sheikh Awad al-Qarni, Sheikh Mohammad Musa al-Sharif, Sheikh Muhammad Saleh al-Munajjid and Sheikh Abdul Aziz at-Tarefe. [4] Prosecutors in Saudi Arabia also sought the death penalty for some prominent scholars including, Shaykh Salman al-Ouda, following an apparent secret trial. [5]

May Allāh (subḥānahu wa taʿālā) grant Jamal Khashoggi (raḥimahu Allāhu) and all those who have been killed unjustly Jannat al-Firdaus and may He bring about much greater good for his people in this world and the next.

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Source: www.islam21c.com

Notes:

[1] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/year-jamal-khashoggi-murder-190930100740798.html

[2] https://www.aa.com.tr/en/turkey/turkey-20-saudis-charged-in-khashoggi-killing/1801435

[3] https://www.islam21c.com/news-views/founder-of-worlds-most-popular-islamic-website-sh-munajjid-detained-in-new-saudi-arrest-spree/

[4] https://www.islam21c.com/news-views/founder-of-worlds-most-popular-islamic-website-sh-munajjid-detained-in-new-saudi-arrest-spree/

[5] https://www.islam21c.com/news-views/saudi-prosecutor-seeks-death-penalty-for-scholar-salman-al-ouda/