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TEHRAN, November 29 -Canada on Thursday imposed sanctions against 17 Saudi nationals linked to the "abhorrent and extrajudicial" murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - In a statement, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland called for a "transparent" probe into the killing, for which Riyadh has failed to offer credible explanations.
Freeland said the sanctions "target individuals who are, in the opinion of the government of Canada, responsible for or complicit in the extrajudicial killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2, 2018."
The statement also called for "a transparent and rigorous accounting of the circumstances" surrounding Khashoggi's murder, saying "the explanations offered to date by Saudi Arabia lack consistency and credibility."
Speaking to reporters in Buenos Aires on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Freeland also noted that "the murder of Khashoggi is abhorrent and represents an unconscionable attack on the freedom of expression of all individuals."
"This case is not closed," she said, urging that "those responsible for Jamal Khashoggi's murder must be held to account and must face justice."
Freeland accompanied Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the G20 summit, also attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been accused of being behind the murder of Khashoggi.
The prince is also under fire for the Saudi war crimes in Yemen. At the request of Human Rights Watch, Argentina has agreed to proceed with a case against bin Salman over the Yemen atrocities during his visit to Buenos Aires.
HRW has formally requested Argentine judicial authorities to use a domestic constitutional clause to arrest and prosecute bin Salman, known as MBS, for war crimes in Yemen and the murder of Khashoggi.
Sarah Leah Whitson, the Middle East director of HRW, tweeted on Wednesday that a prosecutor has agreed to proceed with the case, and asked a judge to request information from Yemeni and Saudi authorities regarding war crimes.
She also said that the prosecutor had asked Argentina's Foreign Ministry whether the crown prince's diplomatic status might allow a legal proceeding to go forward.
Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015, with the aim of bringing a former Riyadh-friendly government back to power.
Bin Salman, who is also Saudi Arabia’s defense minister, is known as the architect of the Yemen war.
The HRW official said the case against MBS will at the very least thwart his attempt to repair his battered image after the murder of Khashoggi.
Source: Press TV
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