Turkish court confirms transfer of Khashoggi murder trial to Saudi Arabia

A Turkish court ruled on April 7 to suspend the trial in absentia of 26 Saudis accused in the gruesome killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and for the case to be transferred to Saudi Arabia.

Khashoggi, a U.S. resident who wrote critically about Saudi Crown Prince Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed on Oct. 2, 2018, at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. He had gone into the consulate for an appointment to collect documents required for him to marry his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz.

He never emerged from the building. His remains have not been found.

Last week, the prosecutor in the case recommended that it be transferred to the kingdom, arguing that the trial in Turkey would remain inconclusive. Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ supported the recommendation, adding that the trial in Turkey would resume if the Turkish court is not satisfied with the outcome of proceedings in the kingdom. It was not clear, however, if Saudi Arabia, which has already put some of the defendants on trial behind closed doors, would open a new trial.

During Thursday's hearing, lawyers representing Cengiz asked the court not to move proceedings to Saudi Arabia.

"Let's not entrust the lamb to the wolf," Demirören News Agency quoted lawyer Ali Ceylan as telling the court, using a Turkish saying.

The court however, ruled to halt the trial in line with the Justice Ministry's "positive opinion." It also decided to lift arrest warrants issued against the defendants and gave the sides seven days in which to lodge any opposition to the court's decisions.

The court had "rubber stamped" a political decision, Emma Sinclair-Webb, the Turkey director for the New York-based Human Rights Watch told The Associated Press.

Cengiz said...