News - Middle East: Four years after the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Amnesty International’s Secretary-General, Agnes Callamard, confirmed that this issue is “no way” to talk about, especially when it comes to “Saudi oil and money, and democracy around the world.”

Callamard, who led an international investigation into Khashoggi’s murder in 2018, explained in an interview with the Washington Post opinion editor, Karen Attia, that the investigation into the case “was a critical moment” as the investigations and their focus on the media were able to “keep the Jamal case on Agenda” and reveal what happened to him.

Khashoggi was murdered in his country’s consulate in Istanbul On October 2, 2018.

She noted that the option “her work on the case was not common within the United Nations”, and that she did so “because it is important for the United Nations at least to participate…in what turned out to be a turning point for the protection of journalists.”

Callamard believes that the killing of Khashoggi has heightened “doubts about the new direction” of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Callamard had told the United Nations Human Rights Council that “the evidence collected by the investigation team indicates that the killing of Khashoggi constituted an extrajudicial execution, enforced disappearance, and most likely a torture process for which Saudi Arabia is responsible.”

And she added, “The investigation found reliable evidence that merits further investigation, pointing to the legal responsibility of senior Saudi officials, including the Saudi Crown Prince” for the operation, according to a previous report by AFP.

In her report, Callamard questioned the credibility of the Saudi investigation into the case, which she saw as falling under “universal jurisdiction.”

Callamard warned the council that “if the international community ignores a premeditated killing designed to silence a peaceful expression of intellectual independence, it will endanger all protections on which human rights depend.”

And a US intelligence report on the assassination of Khashoggi in 2018, concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “authorized” his kidnapping or killing.

The legal threats to bin Salman in US courts go beyond Khashoggi. He was also named in a lawsuit filed by Saad al-Jabri, a former top intelligence official who fell out of favour as Prince Mohammed manoeuvred to become first in line to the throne in 2017.

A US judge has asked the Biden administration to weigh in on whether Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, should be granted sovereign immunity in a civil case brought against him in the US by Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of Khashoggi.

In July the administration sought a delay in filing its response to the court, which had initially been sought by 1 August. John Bates, a district court judge, agreed to extend the deadline to 3 October. 

In an article commemorating Khashoggi's assassination, Washington Post columnist  David Ignatius said, "We should demand accountability from Saudi Arabia, louder than ever. But we should also denounce, as Khashoggi would have, the assaults against press freedom in so many other countries that continue unabated — and often go unremarked."

"After Khashoggi’s killing, many governments tried to pretend they were friends of the press by denouncing the Saudis who murdered him. They wrapped themselves in the cloak of his martyrdom," he added. "But these leaders should be accountable for their countries’ crimes against the media, too — just as we demand justice from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who authorized the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death."

Source: Agencies