- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
TEHRAN, Jan 24 - A UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions will travel to Turkey next week to head an "independent international inquiry" into the gruesome killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -Agnes Callamard will evaluate steps taken by governments on the Oct. 2 murder and "the nature and the extent of states' and individuals' responsibilities for the killing," she said in Geneva Thursday.
"My findings and recommendations will be reported to the UN Human Rights Council at the June 2019 session," she added.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Thursday confirmed that the United Nations special rapporteur in the case will visit Ankara soon.
The top Turkish diplomat said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had ordered preparations to be made to carry the case to an international level.
Speaking at a youth meeting in Istanbul on Monday, Cavusoglu denounced certain Western countries for what it called attempts to whitewash the murder.
“There are Western countries trying to cover this case up. I know the reasons. We know and see what sorts of deals are made. We see how those who spoke of freedom of press are now covering this up after seeing money,” he said.
“We, however, will go until the end. We made preparations for an international investigation in the coming days and we will take the necessary steps,” Cavusoglu added.
Khashoggi, a US-based Washington Post journalist from Saudi Arabia who had become a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
Turkish judicial officials have said Khashoggi was "strangled" as soon as he entered the Saudi diplomatic mission and his body was then "cut into pieces" under a "premeditated plan".
Evidence has shown that the killing was carried out by a hit squad with close links to bin Salman.
Top Turkish officials have also tied his death to the highest levels of the Saudi leadership, but Riyadh has denied accusations that the prince ordered the murder.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said he stands by the kingdom’s de facto ruler despite pleas from US senators to condemn and punish the prince.
Khashoggi's body remains missing and his death has put the Riyadh regime and bin Salman under scrutiny.
In December 2018, Turkey called for an international investigation into the case. Ankara wants Riyadh to extradite the suspects for trial in Istanbul, a request rejected by Saudi rulers.
Saudi Arabia held an initial hearing into Khashoggi's murder earlier this month, with the public prosecutor requesting the death penalty for five of the 11 suspects detained.
A spokeswoman for the UN’s top human rights official, Michelle Bachelet, has recently said the trial is “not sufficient” and does not meet the requirements of an independent and international inquiry.
Britain-based rights group Amnesty International last year called on UN member states to break their silence on Saudi Arabia’s widening crackdown, led by bin Salman, against Muslim preachers and intellectuals beside the kingdom’s invasion of Yemen.
Your Comment