UN: ‘Credible evidence’ linking MBS to Khashoggi murder

Saudi Arabia (QNN)- The crown prince of Saudi Arabia should be investigated over the murder of the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi because there is “credible evidence” that he and other senior officials are liable for the killing, according to a damning and forensic UN report.

In a long-anticipated report, released Wednesday, UN investigator Agnes Callamard said that Saudi Arabia was responsible under international law for the “deliberate, premeditated execution” of Khashoggi and current sanctions on some senior officials do not go far enough.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and his personal assets abroad should be hit by “targeted sanctions,” the report recommends, “until and unless evidence is provided and corroborated that he carries no responsibilities for this execution.”

“It is the conclusion of the special rapporteur that Mr Khashoggi has been the victim of a deliberate, premeditated execution, an extrajudicial killing for which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible under international human rights law,” Agnes Callamard, the UN’s special rapporteur says.

Al Jazeera quoted Callamard saying “there is little doubt in my mind that the killing was premeditated. It was planned.”

Khashoggi’s killing by a team of Saudi operatives in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 provoked widespread revulsion and marred the image of the crown prince.

The report cites audio from inside the consulate, recorded just minutes before Khashoggi entered.

In the audio, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, a close aide to bin Salman, asked whether it will “be possible to put the trunk in a bag?”

In response, Salah Mohammed Abdah Tubaigy, a well-known Saudi forensics doctor, replied “No. Too heavy,” after which he expressed hope that Khashoggi’s killing would “be easy”.

“Joints will be separated. It is not a problem. The body is heavy. First time I cut on the ground. If we take plastic bags and cut it into pieces, it will be finished. We will wrap each of them,” Tubaigy said in the recording, adding: “Leather bags”.