The International Press Institute IPI, a global network of editors, media executives and journalists for press freedom, has urged Saudi Arabia to replace an ongoing trial into the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi with transparent proceedings defined by international input, support and oversight.

In a letter to King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud making the first anniversary of Khashoggi’s murder in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, IPI said that the secrecy surrounding the court case is “extremely disturbing”.

Describing the ongoing proceedings as “farcical”, the letter said that the government had not released the names of the defendants and dates of the hearing are not made public.

IPI urged the king to accept the recommendations of the U.N. special rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

“As recommended by the U.N. special rapporteur, the government should support a U.N.-led additional criminal investigation and conduct a transparent retrial with international input, support and oversight”, IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi said in the letter.

“The international community has lost faith in Saudi Arabia’s justice system. The only way to reverse this is for your government to take immediate and concrete steps to bring all those responsible for the murder”, Trionfi said.

Saudi prosecutors have charged 11 people in the case and sought the death penalty for five of them. The case was brought to court in March this year but since then no details of the proceedings have been released.

Read the full letter below.

To

His Highness King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Riyadh 1 October 2019

RE: Investigations into the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul

Your Highness,

The International Press Institute (IPI), a global network of editors, media executives and journalists striving for press freedom around the world, is extremely concerned about the slow pace of prosecution in the case of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a noted Saudi Arabian journalist, who was killed inside the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul a year ago.

While Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has admitted that Khashoggi was murdered under his watch, he has denied that anyone close to him was involved in the crime. This is contrary to the statement of Saudi prosecutors, who had said that two most trusted aides of the prince were involved in the planning of the attempt to bring the slain journalist back to Saudi Arabia.

While one of the aides, General Ahmed al-Assiri, the former deputy chief of intelligence, is standing trial for the murder, the other aide, Saud al-Qahtani, who was media advisor to the crown prince, is reportedly under house arrest but it is unclear if he is being prosecuted.

The U.N. investigation into the murder found that Khashoggi was the victim of “a deliberate, premeditated execution, an extrajudicial killing for which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible under international human rights law”. An assessment by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, published in several newspapers after the murder of Khashoggi, said that crown prince had ordered the killing.

The Saudi prosecutors have charged 11 people in the case and sought the death penalty for five of them. The case was brought to court in March this year but since then no details of the proceedings have been released.

The secrecy surrounding the court case is extremely disturbing. The government has not released the names of the defendants and dates of the hearing are not made public. This has raised fears that the trial is farcical.

IPI urges your government to accept the recommendations of the U.N. special rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions.

As recommended by the U.N. special rapporteur, the government should support a U.N.-led additional criminal investigation and conduct a transparent retrial with international input, support and oversight.

The international community has lost faith in Saudi Arabia’s justice system. The only way to reverse this is for your government to take immediate and concrete steps to bring all those responsible for the murder.

We look forward to your immediate intervention in this case.

Your sincerely,

Barbara Trionfi
Executive Director