Trial resumes in Istanbul in journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder

An Istanbul court, on Thursday, resumed a hearing in a trial focusing on the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

Mr Khashoggi was allegedly murdered inside Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.

He was getting papers to marry his Turkish fiancée Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting outside.

Ms Cengiz was present in court.

The 26 Saudi defendants are being tried in absentia.

The trial opened in July.

Saudi Arabia refused to extradite the suspects, who included Ahmed al-Asiri, ex-deputy chief of Saudi intelligence and Saud al-Qahtani, a former adviser to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Mr Khashoggi was strangled to death and his body dismembered, according to the Turkish indictment.

The remains of the Washington Post columnist, who was once close to the royal family but became a vocal critic of the crown prince, were never found.

Earlier, a declassified report from the U.S. Director of National Intelligence said the crown prince approved the operation to capture or kill Khashoggi.

The report disputed Saudi’s claims that his death was caused during a rogue operation.

Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, who investigated Mr Khashoggi’s death, concluded in her report that his murder was likely an extrajudicial execution.

it also concluded that it was enforced disappearance and possibly an act of torture for which the state of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible.

(NAN)