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Saturday 20 October 2018 - 09:41

Amnesty raises alarm at Saudi 'whitewash' in Khashoggi probe

Story Code : 756880
Activists dressed as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US President Donald Trump shake hands during a demonstration calling for sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the case of journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the White House in Washington on October 19, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)
Activists dressed as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and US President Donald Trump shake hands during a demonstration calling for sanctions against Saudi Arabia over the case of journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the White House in Washington on October 19, 2018. (Photo by Reuters)

The London-based rights group said early Saturday that the "impartiality" of a Saudi probe into the case would remain in question after the kingdom admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside Riyadh's consulate in Istanbul.

"All along we were concerned about a whitewash, or an investigation by the entity suspected of involvement itself," Amnesty's Rawya Rageh said. "The impartiality of a Saudi investigation would remain in question."

She also noted that human rights organizations have underlined the need for "an impartial and independent investigation by the UN to find out what happened and ensure justice" for Khashoggi.

The remarks came after Saudi Attorney General Sheikh Saud al-Mojeb said that Khashoggi had died after "discussions" at the consulate turned into "a brawl and a fist fight."

The admission of Khashoggi's murder at the hands of Saudi officials followed more than two weeks of the kingdom's denials of any involvement in Khashoggi's disappearance. 

"God have mercy on you my love Jamal, and may you rest in Paradise," Khashoggi's fiancée Hatice Cengiz tweeted after the Saudi confirmation of the journalist's death.

RSF urges pressure on Saudi to get whole truth
Separately on Saturday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on the international community to keep up pressure on Saudi Arabia to get the whole truth about Khashoggi's case.

RSF Secretary General Christophe Deloire blasted Riyadh for imprisoning, kidnapping and even killing journalists.

"Any attempt to get rid of the pressure on Saudi Arabia and to accept a compromise policy would result in giving a 'license to kill' to a Kingdom that puts in jail, lashes, kidnaps and even kills journalists who dare to investigate and launch debates," he tweeted.

"After the recognition of Khashoggi's death, we expect a determined, constant and powerful pressure to be kept on Saudi Arabia in order to get the whole truth on the case and the release of Saudi Arabian journalists (who have) been condemned to crazy and horrible sentences."

Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the Riyadh regime, vanished at the Saudi mission in Istanbul on October 2.

Audio recordings from within the consulate suggested that a team of 15 Saudi agents, among them a forensics expert, had been waiting when Khashoggi walked into the building to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage. The agents were also reported to have brought a bone saw with themselves.

Media reports said that several of the Saudi hit squad were from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's personal security staff.

Amid international outcry over Khashoggi's brutal murder, the Saudi public prosecutor said 18 nationals had been detained in connection to the probe.

Saudi state media also reported that Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had ordered the dismissal of two senior officials, deputy intelligence chief Ahmed Asiri and Saud al-Qahtani, a royal court advisor seen as the right-hand man to bin Salman.
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