Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

2 days ago

Trump Says He’s Willing to Let Migrant Farm Laborers Stay in US

2 days ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

3 days ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

3 days ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

3 days ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

3 days ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

3 days ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

3 days ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

3 days ago
UN Expert Urges Probe of Saudi Prince Over Khashoggi Killing
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
June 19, 2019

Share

GENEVA — An independent U.N. report into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said Wednesday there is “credible evidence” to warrant further investigation into the possible role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and suggested sanctions on his personal assets.

“There has been no demonstration that the state itself of Saudi Arabia has accepted its responsibility for the killing.” — Agnes Callamard, U.N. special rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions
The scathing probe is likely to further harden opinion against the crown prince in Washington and other Western capitals, where critics say an operation of this magnitude would have required the powerful prince’s knowledge.
Agnes Callamard, the special rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, said responsibility for Khashoggi’s killing falls on Saudi Arabia.
“There has been no demonstration that the state itself of Saudi Arabia has accepted its responsibility for the killing,” she told reporters after the release of her 101-page report.
Khashoggi was killed, and believed to have been dismembered, inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by Saudi agents on Oct. 2. His remains have never been found.
The 33-year-old Saudi prince, who continues to have the support of his father, King Salman, denies any involvement in the killing. President Donald Trump has defended U.S.-Saudi ties in the face of international outcry over the slaying.

Determining Original Intent of the Operation

Saudi Arabia initially offered multiple shifting accounts about Khashoggi disappearance, but as pressure mounted the kingdom eventually settled on the explanation that he was killed by rogue officials in a brawl inside their Istanbul consulate.
But the U.N. probe said it is hard to accept the theory that the leader of a 15-man Saudi team sent to the consulate at the time of Khashoggi’s visit had planned the murder without any authorization from superiors in the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
The presence of a pathologist on the Saudi team was relevant to determining the original intent of the operation, she said, and added that an investigation of the crown prince is needed because the people directly implicated in the murder reported to him.
The U.N. investigation had “determined that there is credible evidence, warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including the Crown Prince’s,” Callamard said.
There was also “credible evidence pointing to the crime scenes (in Turkey) having been thoroughly, even forensically, cleaned.” The report said this indicates that the “Saudi investigation was not conducted in good faith, and that it may amount to obstructing justice.”
It added there was “no reason why sanctions should not be applied against the Crown Prince and his personal assets” — noting that sanctions regimes have been put in place in the past before guilt was determined.

Photo of Agnes Callamard, a UN special rapporteur
Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, speaks to reporters Wednesday after releasing her report into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (AP Photo/Jamey Keaten)

Saudi Arabia Has Said Its Agents Exceeded Authority

Callamard said an investigation should look into how much the crown prince knew, whether he had a direct or indirect role, and whether he could have stopped the killing.

“No conclusion is made as to guilt. The only conclusion made is that there is credible evidence meriting further investigation, by a proper authority, as to whether the threshold of criminal responsibility has been met.” — Agnes Callamard, the special rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions
The report noted the “extreme sensitivity” of considering the criminal responsibility of the crown prince and his former adviser Saud al-Qahtani. Neither has been charged in the slaying.
“No conclusion is made as to guilt,” Callamard wrote of the two men. “The only conclusion made is that there is credible evidence meriting further investigation, by a proper authority, as to whether the threshold of criminal responsibility has been met.”
Still, she played down the focus on a single person, writing: “The search for justice and accountability is not singularly dependent on finding a smoking gun or the person holding it.”
Saudi Arabia has blamed the operation on Saudi agents who exceeded their authority. Saudi Arabia’s own investigation said the agents were only given orders by two senior officials to forcibly bring Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia, but not to kill him.
The U.N. report identified by name 15 suspects, of which 11 are on trial in Saudi Arabia. Five of them may face execution.

Kingdom Hasn’t Disclosed Names of Those on Trial

Callamard said that trial should be suspended because it fails to meet procedural standards. She noted that the trial is being held behind closed doors, and at least one of those identified as responsible for the planning and organizing of the killing has not been charged. While some diplomats have been allowed to attend some of the hearings, they were barred from disclosing their observations.
The kingdom has not disclosed the names of those on trial.
The U.N. report offered a chilling minute-by-minute account of the events surrounding the killing based on audio shared by Turkish authorities taken from inside the Saudi consulate, including what Turkish intelligence identified as sounds of a saw that could have been used to dismember Khashoggi’s body.
According to Callamard’s account of the recordings, which she heard translated from Arabic, Saudi agents could be heard discussing how to dismember and transport a body minutes before Khashoggi’s arrival at the consulate on Oct. 2.
A voice identified as a pathologist expresses hope that it will be easy, saying: “Joints will be separated. It is not a problem. The body is heavy. First time I cut on the ground. If we take plastic bags and cut it into pieces, it will be finished.”
The report said that a Saudi intelligence agent named Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb — who had been working for the crown prince’s adviser, Saud al-Qahtani — asked whether “the sacrificial animal” has arrived. Shortly after 1 p.m., a voice says: “He has arrived.”

Khashoggi Wrote Columns for Washington Post

Khashoggi — who was never mentioned by name in the audio — was visiting the consulate to pick up papers to marry his Turkish fiancee, who waited for him outside the consulate before raising the alarm after he failed to emerge after several hours.
On arrival he was told he would be forcibly returned to Saudi Arabia and was told by Mutreb to text message his sons.
When asked to take off his jacket, Khashoggi appeared to have seen a syringe and asked whether he was going to be drugged, the report said.
“How could this happen in an embassy?” he was heard at one point saying.
He was told he will be given anesthesia, and sounds of struggle followed. Agents were heard saying: “Did he sleep?” and “Keep pushing.”
Before his death, Khashoggi wrote columns in The Washington Post criticizing the crown prince’s crackdown on freedom of thought and expression, though he also commended the prince’s social reforms. He wrote his columns after leaving Saudi Arabia to avoid being swept up in the crackdown.
On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Twitter that Turkey strongly endorses Callamard’s recommendations “for elucidating Khashoggis’s murder and holding those responsible accountable.”
The U.S. State Department has publicly designated 16 people for their roles in the killing of Khashoggi, among them Saud al-Qahtani. Many U.S. lawmakers have criticized Trump for not condemning Saudi Arabia for the journalist’s killing.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

DON'T MISS

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

DON'T MISS

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

DON'T MISS

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

DON'T MISS

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

DON'T MISS

613 Killed at Gaza Aid Distribution Sites, Near Humanitarian Covoys, Says UN

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Authorities Investigating Suspicious Death of Transient Man

DON'T MISS

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

DON'T MISS

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

West Bank Town Becomes ‘Big Prison’ as Israel Fences It In

UP NEXT

Israeli Military Kills 20 in Gaza as Trump Awaits Hamas Reply to Truce Proposal

UP NEXT

Russia Pounds Kyiv With Largest Drone Attack, Hours After Trump-Putin Call

UP NEXT

Markets’ 90-Day Tariff Pause Rollercoaster Nears an Uncertain End

UP NEXT

Fresno Crash Involving Unlicensed Teen Driver Sends Woman to Hospital

UP NEXT

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

UP NEXT

Colombia President Recalls Ambassador to US

UP NEXT

US-Backed 60-Day Gaza Ceasefire Envisions Gradual Return of Hostages, Official Says

UP NEXT

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

UP NEXT

US Paves Way to Resume Ethane Exports to China Amid Trade Truce

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

6 hours ago

Musk Announces Forming of ‘America Party’ in Further Break From Trump

6 hours ago

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children

6 hours ago

California’s Politics Drifts Right While New York’s Leans Left

7 hours ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

1 day ago

What’s Caitlin Clark Worth to the WNBA? A Lot More Than Her $78,066 Salary.

1 day ago

Trump to Sign Tax-Cut and Spending Bill in July 4 Ceremony

2 days ago

Madre Fire Spurs Evacuations Across 3 Counties, Grows to More Than 70,000 Acres

2 days ago

Clovis, Sanger, Madera, and Bass Lake Will Light the Sky With Fireworks Shows Tonight

2 days ago

Oil Dips Ahead of Expected OPEC+ Output Increase

2 days ago

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

A suspected DUI driver crashed into a parked California Highway Patrol motorcycle and tow truck along Highway 99 near North Avenue, missing ...

6 hours ago

A 22-year-old suspected DUI driver crashed into a parked CHP motorcycle and tow truck on Highway 99 near Fresno, narrowly missing an officer and bystanders, CHP said Saturday, July 5, 2025. (CHP)
6 hours ago

Fresno DUI Driver Slams Into CHP Motorcycle, Tow Truck on Highway 99

A service member of a drone unit of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo of the Ukrainian Armed Forces controls a heavy combat drone while it flies over positions of Russian troops, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine June 12, 2025. (Reuters File)
6 hours ago

Russia Downs 120 Ukrainian Drones Overnight, Defense Ministry Says

An Israeli tank maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, July 6, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
6 hours ago

Israel Sends Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Talks Ahead of Netanyahu Trip to US

The Madre Fire near New Cuyama has burned nearly 80,000 acres as of Sunday, July 6, 2025, morning, prompting widespread evacuation orders and warnings across three counties. (CalFire)
6 hours ago

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to Nearly 80,000 Acres, 30% Contained

Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk gets in a Tesla car as he leaves a hotel in Beijing, China May 31, 2023. (Reuters File)
6 hours ago

Musk Announces Forming of ‘America Party’ in Further Break From Trump

A search dog operates at Camp Mystic after deadly flooding in Kerr County, Texas, U.S., July 5, 2025. (Reuters/Sergio Flores)
6 hours ago

Death Toll From Texas Floods Reaches 59, Including 21 Children

2024 Democratic National Convention
7 hours ago

California’s Politics Drifts Right While New York’s Leans Left

Solar Farm in Riesel, Texas
1 day ago

How Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Will Make China Great Again

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend