Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee told a Turkish court that the Washington Post columnist was lured to his death at the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul through “great treason and deception,” and has asked that all persons responsible for His murder is brought to justice.
Hatice Cengiz spoke at the opening of the trial on Friday in the absence of two former aides to the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and 18 other Saudi citizens who were indicted in Turkey for the appalling murder of Khashoggi.
The journalist’s murder at the consulate in 2018 sparked international condemnation and cast a cloud of suspicion on the crown prince.
The 20 Saudi defendants left Turkey and Saudi Arabia rejected Turkish demands for their extradition.
Some of the men were brought to trial in Riyadh behind closed doors. The process was widely criticized as laundering. Khashoggi’s relatives later announced that they had forgiven his killers.
The trial in Turkey is being closely watched for possible new information or evidence of the murder, including the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s remains.
‘Great treason and deception’
Khashoggi, who was a US resident, had entered his country’s consulate on October 2, 2018, for an appointment to collect documents that would allow him to marry his Turkish fiancée. He never left.
Cengiz, who came to testify, spoke of the day his future was taken from him, Turkish state broadcaster TRT reported.
“He was called to that consulate with great treason and deception,” Cengiz quoted the court as saying during his testimony, according to the private DHA news agency.
“I am making a complaint about everyone at the consulate. Everyone from the driver to the tea maker,” said Cengiz, who waited for Khashoggi outside the Istanbul consulate when he went there to obtain the documents and alerted authorities when he was unable come. outside.
In brief comments after the hearing, she described Khashoggi as a friend, co-worker, ally, and companion to many people, not just herself.
“The process was very emotionally debilitating for me,” he said, but promised to “closely follow the trial because it is our responsibility,” and expressed his faith in the Turkish judicial process.
His lawyer confirmed to the DPA news agency that the next hearing would be held on November 24.
First pubic trial
While Riyadh refused to extradite suspects for the process, its importance was underscored by the fact that it is the first public trial of the Khashoggi murder.
“This is the first time that the judicial system has finally come to grips with its responsibilities and speaks to Jamal Khashoggi and his murder and to witnesses and victims in a way that is internationally recognizable,” said Agnes Callamard, a UN special. . speaker on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, who attended the hearing.
Al Jazeera reporter Sinem Koseoglu from Istanbul said this is the first transparent trial where access to witness testimony is available, unlike the Saudi trial, which took place behind closed doors.
Saudi Arabia repeatedly said that Khashoggi was killed in a “dishonest operation” and denied reports that the crown prince was involved.
MBS has said that it did not order the murder, but instead assumed “full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia.”
The Istanbul trial “represents the best hope for justice” for Khashoggi “after an evident judicial error in the Saudi courts,” said Erol Onderoglu, Turkey’s representative for the media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
In this October 2018 file photo, activists protesting the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi hold a candlelight vigil outside the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul. [File: Lefteris Pitarakis/AP Photo]
Calls for a ‘greater international presence’
After Friday’s hearing, Callamard told the media that an international presence is needed, including representatives of foreign states like the United States.
“I ask that you ensure that in the next session in November there is a much larger international presence so that we continue to send that message to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world that they cannot get away with murdering a journalist.” Callamard said.
“Let’s not forget that this is a state execution … That is why the presence of other states, of other members of the international community, is important.”
Al Jazeera’s Koseoglu said that according to legal experts, if prosecutors cannot find any concrete evidence despite the information they have gathered, it would be impossible to charge someone.
“That’s why [Calamard] said the United States should be more involved because the United States is the only party that can prove evidence that MBS was involved in the Khashoggi murder, “said Koseoglu.
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