Originally posted on the Middle East Monitor website, 11 September, 2020
Amnesty International has called for an independent and impartial international investigation into the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered by a Saudi hit squad inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
The London-based rights watchdog said on Twitter that Saudi Arabia’s trial of those accused of the columnist’s murder was “not transparent”, adding that in the absence of an independent and transparent Saudi judiciary, “we call for an independent and impartial international investigation to find truth and justice for the late journalist”.
The organisation stressed that “the final ruling avoids addressing the Saudi authorities’ involvement in the horrific crime, and neglects to locate the body remains”.
On Tuesday, the United Nations criticised the final rulings issued against the convicts in Khashoggi’s murder, saying it does not rise to the scale of the crime while the trial is “far from transparent”.
A Saudi Arabian court on Monday jailed eight people for between seven and 20 years for the 2018 murder of Khashoggi, four months after his family apparently forgave his killers and enabled death sentences to be commuted.
Link to the original post: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20200911-amnesty-calls-for-independent-probe-into-khashoggi-murder/
