[ad_1]
On Friday, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag agreed to request an Istanbul court docket shut down the trial in absentia of 26 Saudi suspects in the homicide of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
On Thursday, the Turkish prosecutor within the case requested that the trial be suspended and transferred to Saudi authorities.
The transfer comes as Turkey seeks to raised its relations with Saudi Arabia, which had soured following the killing.
Khashoggi, who was a distinguished critic of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered on the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
The loss of life sparked a global outcry and put strain on the crown prince, who was later accused by US intelligence of authorizing the killing — a cost he denies.
On the time, Turkish authorities mentioned they imagine Khashoggi was killed and his physique dismembered in an operation which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned had been ordered on the “highest ranges” of the Saudi authorities.
In 2020, Saudi Arabia imprisoned eight folks for between seven and 20 years for the homicide. Not one of the defendants had been named in what rights teams equivalent to Amnesty Worldwide known as a sham trial.
In the meantime, 26 Saudi nationals have been on trial in absentia in Turkey for almost two years. The Istanbul court docket overseeing the case mentioned it could ask for the Justice Ministry’s opinion on the request to maneuver proceedings. The subsequent listening to is ready for April 7.
Khashoggi’s fiancee ‘heartbroken’ by the request
Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who attended the court docket listening to on Thursday, mentioned in a press release: “No good will come of sending the case to Saudi Arabia.”
“Everyone knows the authorities there’ll do nothing. How can we count on the killers to research themselves?”
Amnesty Worldwide additionally criticized the prosecutor’s request, saying Ankara can be complicit in a coverup if it allowed the trial to be transferred.
“As an alternative of prosecuting and shedding mild on a homicide that was dedicated on its territory … Turkey might be knowingly and willingly sending the case to a spot the place it is going to be coated up,” mentioned Tarik Beyhan, Amnesty’s marketing campaign director for Turkey.
Soured relations
Khashoggi’s homicide and subsequent accusations soured relations between the 2 regional powers and resulted in an unofficial Saudi boycott of Turkish items, which minimize Ankara’s exports to Riyadh by 90%.
Erdogan is now searching for higher ties with states which had change into bitter rivals in recent times, together with Egypt, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this yr, the Turkish president mentioned he hoped to take “concrete steps” with Riyadh quickly.
fh/nm (AFP, Reuters)
[ad_2]
Source link