'Murder of Khashoggi was extrajudicial execution'

UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions criticized Tuesday the Saudi government for “consistently” denying her finding that the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was an “extrajudicial execution”, reports Anadolu Agency.

Agnes Callamard shared Tuesday on Twitter her reactions to the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s statements which “recognize his responsibility for the killing”.

Callamard said that through his statements, Mohammed bin Salman implicitly recognized that the killing of Khashoggi was a “state killing”.

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“It happened under his watch as quasi head of state. The State is therefore implicated as he is,” Callamard said.

She stressed that Saudi authorities did not formally acknowledge the killing and has not apologized for it yet.

Callamard criticized the Crown Prince also for tolerating one year of “disinformation” and “policies of intolerance and repression”.

Underlining that Salman tries to “distance” himself from the killing, she said: “The identity of the killers and planners point to a far closer relationship between them and him than he is prepared to admit”.

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“The operation could not have been implemented with such flagrant confidence, resourcing and then – to this day impunity – without State sanction at the highest level,” she added.

One year after the killing of Khashoggi, Callamard also commemorated executed journalists worldwide.

Where is Jamal Khashoggi?… – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]