The Turkish Foreign Ministry said that the rulings announced by the Saudi Public Prosecution regarding the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi were "far from achieving justice." For his part, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Rap Riyadh demanded that all those responsible for this crime be held accountable and not be repeated.
Ankara reiterated, as stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its invitation to the Saudi authorities for judicial cooperation regarding the investigation into the killing of the Saudi journalist at his country's consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.
The British Foreign Secretary said in a statement, following a statement by the Saudi Prosecutor's Office to issue rulings on persons accused of the Khashoggi murder, that the journalist's family "deserves to see justice achieved in the case of his brutal killing," stressing his country's principled position rejecting the death penalty in all circumstances.
Those who yesterday denied the presence of Khashoggi at the consulate are the same ones who today deny the links of the accused |
A spokesman for the Saudi Public Prosecution announced earlier today that death sentences were issued against five people, and three others were punished with 24 years imprisonment in the case of Khashoggi’s death.
The Public Prosecution added in a press conference that Saud al-Qahtani (former adviser to the crown prince), consul in Istanbul (Muhammad al-Otaibi), and Major General Ahmed Asiri (former deputy director of intelligence) were not charged with any charges and were released.
Genghis and Kalamar
Khadija Genghis Khashoggi's fiancée denounced the acquittal of prominent Saudi officials from the accusation of his killing, in reference to Al-Qahtani, Asiri and Al-Otaibi, and the UN Special Rapporteur, Anis Kalamar, criticized the exoneration of officials of the murder of the journalist, describing the rulings issued today as "ridiculous."
Today is a happy day for me ... The joy of the statement of the Attorney General 🇸🇦🔥🙏🏻❤️ - TURKI ALALSHIKH (@Turki_alalshikh) December 23, 2019 |
Also in the reactions, a Human Rights Watch spokesperson said - in a statement to Al Jazeera - that the trial of the Khashoggi murderers was not transparent, and that Reporters Without Borders Secretary-General Christophe Doyard stated that justice was not respected in the judgments issued by the judiciary. Saudi Arabia, adding that these provisions may be "a means to silence witnesses to the assassination forever."
The Saudi Public Prosecution said that these rulings issued by the Criminal Court in Riyadh are preliminary, not final, and can be appealed. She added that the court had responded to requests for disciplinary punishment against three of the accused.
The consul
The spokesman for the Public Prosecution, Shaalan Al-Shaalan, said that the consul in Istanbul was released after receiving a judicial delegation from the Turkish side that included Turkish testimonies of his presence with them on the day of the crime, and that Asiri was subject to an investigation and a decision was issued to release him because his conviction was not proven in the case.
Al-Shaalan added - at the press conference - that Al-Qahtani was investigated and he was not charged in the case because there was no evidence against him, and that the murder of Khashoggi was not done with prior intention.
The Turkish authorities had accused her Saudi counterpart of sending a team of 15 people - including security officials - to kill Khashoggi in Istanbul after he was lured to the consulate. Ankara has demanded that the accused be extradited for trial in Turkey, but the Saudi authorities have refused this and announced an investigation into the case and the trial of those involved in it, according to Saudi law.