Public Prosecutor of Saudi Arabia in İstanbul for Khashoggi Investigation
* Photograph: Elif Öztürk - İstanbul / Anadolu Agency
Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish
Public Prosecutor of Saudi Arabia Saud al-Mojeb, who has been appointed to investigate the death of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in İstanbul, went to the District Directorate of National Intelligence Organization (MIT) of Turkey in the early morning hours today (October 31).
No statement has been made regarding the visit of the prosecutor.
He also went to the Courthouse and Consulate
Saud al-Mojeb, who is currently in İstanbul as part of the Khashoggi investigation launched in Saudi Arabia, also went to İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan and met Public Prosecutor İrfan Fidan on October 29 and 30.
al-Mojeb also made an examination at the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in the district of Levent, where journalist Khashoggi lost his life.
On October 20, Saudi Arabia made an official statement about Jamal Khashoggi, whose fate and whereabouts had not been known as of October 2, 2018 at 1 a.m., when he was last seen while entering the consulate building, and confirmed that the journalist was killed inside the building. It has not yet been announced where the dead body of Khashoggi is.
"International experts should be involved"
United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also made a statement about the incident and ongoing investigations.
She stated, "For an investigation to be carried out free of any appearance of political considerations, the involvement of international experts, with full access to evidence and witnesses, would be highly desirable".
What happened?The whereabouts of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was a columnist at Washington Post newspaper and a citizen of Saudi Arabia, had not been known as of October 2, 2018 at 1 a.m., when he was last seen while entering the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in İstanbul. Reuters news agency and journalists from Turkey as well as the Chair of Turkish-Arabic Media Association Turan Kışlakçı claimed that Khashoggi was killed and his body was taken out of the consulate. Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hami Aksoy announced that the officials in the General Consulate of Saudi Arabia accepted the request of Turkey to make an investigation at the consulate. The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office also assigned a deputy chief prosecutor and a chief public prosecutor to conduct the judicial processes in the investigation that has been launched by Turkey after the journalist, who has allegedly been killed, was reported to be missing. On October 16, police officers conducted a search at the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia. One day later, on October 17, the consulate was searched and examined for the second time and the residence of the Consul General of Saudi Arabia was also searched by the security forces. On October 20, the official news agency of Saudi Arabia, SPA reported that according to the results of the investigation conducted by the Saudi Arabia Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Khashoggi "started to argue with other citizens of Saudi Arabia in the Consulate General in İstanbul, the argument turned into a row and Khashoggi lost his life as a result of this commotion." On October 22, 22 employees of the Consulate General, including the ones from Turkey and the foreign nationals, came to the İstanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan to give their depositions as witnesses. The testimonies of 23 workers of the consulate were also taken on October 19. The investigation in Turkey has still been continuing. |
(AS/SD)