Saudi Consulate in İstanbul Does Not Let UN Delegation in

* Photo: Arif Hüdaverdi Yaman – İstanbul / AA

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United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Agnes Callamard is in İstanbul to investigate the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Callamard visited the İstanbul Courthouse and met with the prosecutor of the Khashoggi case yesterday (January 29).

The UN rapporteur headed to the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Levent neighborhood but has not been given permission to enter the consulate.

Callamard said, "I will evaluate the nature and the extent of states' and individuals' responsibilities for the killing" in a statement last week.

Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, was killed in the Saudi Consulate in İstanbul on October 2, 2018. His body is still missing.

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, which launched an investigation into the killing, issued an arrest warrant for Ahmed al-Asiri, the former deputy intelligence chief of Saudi Arabia, and Saud al-Qahtani, a former advisor to Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman.

Four-hour meeting with the prosecutor

Along with Callamard, lawyer Helena Kennedy from the UK and former Chair of the World Association of Police Medical Officers are in the UN delegation.

The delegation visited the area around the consulate to gather information after they failed to enter the consulate.

Callamard said that they were late to ask for permission to enter the consulate and giving the Saudi officials time to process their request.

The UN delegation met with İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor İrfan Fidan in the İstanbul Courthouse. The meeting took four hours.

AKP Spokesperson: This is a scandal

Ömer Çelik, the Spokesperson of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said that the UN delegation not being allowed to enter the consulate "is for sure a scandal."

Asserting that Saudi Arabia "is not helpful for the investigation since the beginning," Çelik has said, "This approach indicates that there is no cooperation and some things are being covered up. What happened shows that the United Nations should insist on launching an international investigation and an international investigation should be launched as proposed by Turkey."

Presidential Communications Director: "We do not know who gave the order"

Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun also commented on the situation, saying in a tweet that they do not know who gave the order for the killing.

"We do not know yet who gave the order for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, where is the body and who are the local accomplices. The justice must be served."

What happened?

Journalist Khashoggi was disappeared after entering the Saudi Consulate in İstanbul on October 2, 2018. The Saudi Kingdom admitted on October 20 that he was killed in the consulate.

The İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office released a press statement on October 31, giving the following information:

"Jamal Khashoggi went to the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for paperwork related to his marriage on October 2, 2018. As soon as he entered the consulate building, in a premeditated murder, he was suffocated to death and his body was dismembered and destroyed." (AS/VK)