Ruling to suspend the trial in absentia of 26 Saudis accused in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Turkish court has transferred the case to Saudi Arabia.
The 59-year-old Washington Post columnist was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.
On the request by the prosecutor to transfer the trial in absentia to Saudi authorities last week, Turkey’s justice minister later said the government would approve the request.
Granting the prosecutor’s request on March 31, the Istanbul court said on Thursday decided to halt and hand over the case to Saudi Arabia.
Human rights groups had warned that turning the case over to the kingdom would lead to a cover-up of the killing. A 2018 US intelligence report had linked the case to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Calling on the Turkish government to abandon the plan, Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday had claimed that transferring the Khashoggi trial from Turkey to Saudi Arabia would end any possibility of justice for him. Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at HRW, had said in a statement that it would reinforce Saudi authorities’ apparent belief that they can get away with murder.”
Al Jazeera quoted the statement thus: “The Turkish authorities should reverse their decision and not contribute any further to entrenching Saudi impunity by handing over the Khashoggi case to the very people implicated in his murder.”
Disappointed by the ruling, Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish academic and researcher, has vowed to appeal the decision.
