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Slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi deserves a “dignified burial,” so “please hand over his body,” Daud Abdullah, the director of Middle East Monitor, is pleading Saudi authorities.
Abdullah spoke to Anadolu Agency before a memorial event in London to remember Khashoggi, organized by not-for-profit press monitoring organization Middle East Monitor and the Al Sharq Forum, an independent pro-democracy, non-partisan, non-profit think-tank focusing on the greater Mideast.
He said the gathering Monday was organized to recognize Khashoggi’s achievements as a journalist and internationalist.
“In the latter years of his life he was based in Washington at the Washington Post,” Abdullah said, adding that this gave him a platform to cast his message far and wide.
Abdullah said Khashoggi spread his message of “equality for justice and freedom.”
Underlining how Saudi authority admitted that Khashoggi was killed in their Istanbul Consulate after weeks of denial, he urged them to hand over the journalist’s body.
“We have just one message [for the Saudis]: We plead in the name of the God, for God’s sake, hand over the body!”
“He is entitled to have a dignified burial,” he added.
However, he added, the case will not be closed until those responsible for the murder are held accountable.
Saudi Arabia's Chief Prosecutor Saud Al Mojeb on Tuesday visited the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul as part of probe into slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi.He had previously visited his Turkish counterpart at the Çağlayan courthouse.Mojeb and the accompanying delegation left the consulate after spending one-and-half-hours inside.Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed inside the Consulate of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul after he went there to obtain documents for his forthcoming marriage.Erdoğan says Turkish prosecutor asked Saudi counterpart who sent Khashoggi's killersAfter denying any involvement in the disappearance of Khashoggi, 59, for two weeks, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 20 acknowledged his death, saying he had died in a fistfight.Since then, Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said Khashoggi’s killing was premeditated, contradicting the previous official statement that it happened accidentally during a tussle in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.Riyadh's numerous shifting accounts of the killing have undermined Prince Mohammed's standing.'Jamal Khashoggi deserves a dignified burial'Saudi prosecutor revisits Istanbul court house in Khashoggi investigationTurkey denies top Saudi prosecutor’s request for whole Khashoggi file: report
Saudi prosecutor leaves consulate in Istanbul as Khashoggi probe continues
‘No ordinary crime’
Galip Dalay, research director of the Al Sharq Forum, thinks Khashoggi was no victim of an ordinary crime.
Also speaking to Anadolu Agency, Dalay said the last two events the Saudi journalist attended were organized late last month by the Al Sharq Forum in Istanbul and Middle East Monitor in London -- the latter just four days before his death -- and this is why the two organizations are hosting the memorial event.
“Jamal was not killed in a petty criminal activity,” he said.
Khashoggi was killed in a “premeditated” action ordered by top-level authorities in Saudi Arabia, Dalay said.
“All the findings... are pointing to [Crown Prince] Mohammed bin Salman; in one way or another, [they] link the case to Mohammed bin Salman.”
Dalay said merely prosecuting those who killed Khashoggi will not satisfy justice.
He said: “Who gave the order? What was the network? Who was involved in this case from the political level?
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Monday hailed the Turkish stance on the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.“The Turkish government examines the wicked case from different dimensions and pursues the process cautiously, impartially and skillfully,” Zarif told reporters.“We hope the perpetrators will be identified at the end of the investigation,” he said.Zarif arrived in Istanbul on Monday to attend a trilateral ministerial meeting between Turkey, Iran and Azerbaijan and the opening of Istanbul’s third airport.Zarif said the ministerial meeting will be a “very good chance” to exchange idea for expanding economic cooperation between the three countries.Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, had gone missing since entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.After weeks of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, Saudi officials on Oct. 20 admitted that Khashoggi had died inside the consulate building.Turkish police have been investigating the case, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said 18 people arrested in Saudi Arabia over the killing should be sent to Turkey to face trial.Turkish FM calls on Saudi Arabia to reveal 'whole truth' on Khashoggi killingSaudi prosecutor heading Khashoggi probe meets Turkish counterpart in Istanbul
Iranian FM hails Turkish stance on Khashoggi’s murder
Turkey believes Saudi and Turkish prosecutors sharing information on the investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi is useful, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoglu said on Monday, adding that the cooperation should continue.He also called on the Kingdom to reveal the whole truth on the killing of the journalist.He made the comments during a news conference with Azeri and Georgian foreign ministers. He said Saudi had proposed the visit from its public prosecutor to Turkey and called on the kingdom to conclude the investigation as soon as possible.“This is our concern. This investigation should be concluded as soon as possible,” Cavusoglu said, adding the whole world was waiting for it.Earlier Monday, Saudi Arabia’s Chief Prosecutor Saud Al-Mujeb and the delegation accompanying him held a meeting with Turkey’s Chief Public Prosecutor Irfan Fidan at the Istanbul Çağlayan Courthouse over Khashoggi’s killing.Jamal Khashoggi vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage.Soon after he went missing, Turkish officials said 15 Saudis arrived in Istanbul on the day of his disappearance in two planes and visited the consulate while he was still inside.Khashoggi was a U.S. resident who wrote columns for the Washington Post and a critic of the Saudi government, calling for reforms.After denying any involvement in the disappearance of Khashoggi, 59, for two weeks, Saudi Arabia on Oct. 20 said he had died in a fistfight.Since then, Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said Khashoggi’s killing was premeditated, contradicting the previous official statement that it happened accidentally during a tussle in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Turkish FM calls on Saudi Arabia to reveal 'whole truth' on Khashoggi killing
“They should also be brought to justice,” he said, adding that this should pave the way to a “universal jurisdiction” regarding the killing.
Khashoggi’s journalist friends, human rights activists, politicians, and academics joined the memorial service held in central London.
The meeting saw an emotional speech from Khashoggi’s fiancée Hatice Cengiz, who got an ovation lasting minutes.
The event, titled “Remembering Jamal,” also featured speeches by Abdullah, Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, and some prominent journalists.
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.
After weeks of denying any knowledge of his whereabouts, on Oct. 19 Saudi officials admitted that Khashoggi had died inside the consulate building.
Turkish police have been investigating the case, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said 18 people arrested in Saudi Arabia over the killing should be sent to Turkey to face trial.