This archive report was first published on 3 July 2020.
On July 3, 2020, a significant development took place in the case of Jamal Khashoggi's murder, as twenty Saudi nationals went on trial in absentia in Turkey.
These individuals, including two former top aides to Saudi Arabia's powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, are accused of being involved in the murder of Khashoggi, a vocal critic of the prince.
According to Turkish prosecutors, the former deputy head of Saudi intelligence, Ahmed al-Asiri, and the royal court's media adviser Saud al-Qahtani led the operation and instructed a Saudi hit team to suffocate Khashoggi, whose remains have not been found.
His fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, is attending the trial alongside the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Callamard, who has directly linked the crown prince to the killing.
The Saudi authorities initially denied any involvement in the case, but later called it a 'rogue operation.'
UN special rapporteur Callamard says Khashoggi was 'the victim of a deliberate, premeditated execution, an extrajudicial killing for which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible.'
