Turkey braces to hand Khashoggi trial to Saudis

GBNews24 Desk//

Turkey on Thursday holds the final stage of the trial in absentia of 26 suspects linked to the killing of Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi before transferring the case to Riyadh, a decision that has angered rights groups.

The 59-year-old journalist was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 in a gruesome murder that shocked the world.

A Turkish court began the trial in 2020 with relations tense between the two Sunni Muslim regional powers.

But with Turkey desperate for investment to help pull it out of economic crisis, Ankara has sought to heal the rift with Riyadh.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said last week that he would greenlight a Turkish prosecutor’s request to hand the case over to Saudi Arabia, BSS reports.

The prosecutor said the case was “dragging” because the court’s orders could not be carried since the defendants were foreigners.

But Human Rights Watch slammed Ankara Wednesday, saying the decision will “end any possibility of justice”.

– Getting ‘away with murder’ –
Transferring the trial would also “reinforce Saudi authorities’ apparent belief that they can get away with murder,” said Michael Page, the group’s deputy Middle East director.

Amnesty International, whose head Agnes Callamard had investigated the murder in 2019 when she was a UN special rapporteur, also strongly rebuked the Turkish government.

“Turkey will be knowingly and willingly sending the case back into hands of those who bear responsibility,” she said.