The BBC broadcast an investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which rocked the world a year ago, and spoke with two rights activists who were among the few allowed by the Turkish authorities to listen to these horrific recordings.
The investigation by journalist Jane Corbin was broadcast on Panorama, and provided horrific details of the assassination by two human rights activists: Agnès Kalamard, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, and British lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy, who was part of a team that listened to Turkish recordings. Invited by Callamard.
Waiting for the victim
On the morning of October 2, the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was on the verge of an unusual event; the office of the consul general was equipped, and the ground was covered with plastic. Turkish officials were granted leave on that day.
That morning, Khashoggi received a call from his country's consulate requesting him to receive some papers to complete his marriage to his Turkish fiancée Khadija Genghis.
In conjunction with Khashoggi's call, many things were going on inside the consulate, and the assassination team was sharpening its weapons waiting to pounce on its prey.
`` Their laughter can be heard, it's disgusting, '' says British lawyer Helena Kennedy as she hears the recordings of the assassination. `` They can hear their laughter, it's disgusting ... They wait at the consulate, they know the man will come in, they will kill him and then cut him.
In the meantime, there was a laughing conversation between the team leader Maher Abdul Aziz singer and forensic doctor Salah al-Tabiqi; Kennedy says they talked about the autopsy and they were laughing.
"I usually listen to music while chopping the body, sometimes I drink coffee and smoke cigars," he says.
The “horror” of the final moments of murdered Saudi journalist, Jamal #Khashoggi, were captured covertly in recordings by Turkish intelligence. |
"This is the first time in my life I have to cut the pieces on the ground. Even if you are a butcher, you have to hang the carcass to do this," Toubiki said.
Kennedy concludes from the men 's conversation that the doctor was aware of the task he had to do. She says the recordings "show their voices inquiring about Khashoggi's arrival and saying, 'Has the sacrifice arrived?'"
Journalist Jane Corbin says Kennedy was reading those lines from her notebook where she recorded her notes when listening to the records, and her voice was terrified.
Smothered sound
The recordings - according to the BBC's investigation - show Khashoggi's assassination team arriving at the consulate to send a message to his son to reassure the family that he is okay, but Khashoggi refuses.
"The shift in Khashoggi's voice can be seen from a confident man to a frightened person," Kennedy says. "Tensions and horror increase, and there is certainty that something tragic will happen."
But the horror itself moves to her as she listens. "There is a sense of horror when listening to the transformation of the voice.
But the recordings show whether Khashoggi realized what he meant? Anias Kalamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, says she does not know how Khashoggi knows what the Saudis are plotting. Something? "And they respond in the affirmative."
According to Kennedy, Khashoggi repeats the question twice, will you kidnap me? Then he asks again, "How could that happen in an embassy?"
The situation then moves on to another scene. Kalamard says the sounds heard afterwards "show attempts to suffocate Khashoggi, often using a plastic bag around his head.
Let him interrupt
Then comes the role of a classical forensic doctor, where he hears the voice of the singer asking to make room for him to "let him cut," Kennedy said.
"Then someone shouts and says, 'It's over,' and someone else yells, 'Take it off, take it off.' Put this on the head. Kennedy concludes from that passage, "They cut off his head."
The investigation continues to give details of what happened later, and is talking to a number of people involved in the Khashoggi case, including his fiancée Khadija Genghis.
Did Turkey know in advance?
The program raises another matter regarding the Turks' access to the operation's recordings. Was she aware of what Khashoggi had planned, a threat to his life, and whether she should warn him?
"They probably didn't know there was a risk to his life. There is no evidence that they were listening directly to the recordings," Kalamard said.
"This kind of intelligence work is done on a regular basis, and the recordings are only heard in the presence of a motive. The motive here was the disappearance and killing of Khashoggi."
The program also spoke to a former Turkish intelligence officer, Mitin Ersoz, whose career spanned nearly 27 years. Ersuz said Khashoggi was delayed "in recognizing the danger and taking precautions."
He says his former intelligence colleagues listened to about four or five thousand hours of recordings so they could identify the important days, and then prepare the 45 minutes that Kennedy and Calamard listened to.