Washington: An independent investigation by the United Nations has held Saudi Arabia responsible under international law for the extrajudicial killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The prominent writer and critic of the present Saudi regime, Khashoggi, was killed after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018.
UN investigator Agnes Callamard said that the Khashoggi was the victim of a deliberate, premeditated execution. Though Saudi Arabia had first denied involvement of the nation in the killings, officials later said that the crime was executed by rogue operators belonging to the inner circle of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.
Though the Saudi attorney general confirmed that Khashoggi was killed in a premeditated murder the investigations do not make any conclusions about the role of the Crown Prince.
Callamard says that there is credible evidence that calls for further investigations by a proper authority. She also said that the murdered journalist was afraid of what would happen to him if he returned to Saudi Arabia.
The Islamic Nation has maintained that the Crown Prince was not aware of the plan to execute Khashoggi. However, US officials says that such a mission could not be carried out without the authorization of the Mohammad bin Salman.
The special report of the UN says that the journalist was injected with sedatives and suffocated to death by putting his head in a plastic bag.
Earlier reports suggested that Khashoggi was cut up, packed in separate bags and removed from the consulate. His body has never been found.
The UN report also says that there is credible evidence that the crime scenes have been thoroughly and even forensically cleaned to hide any trace of the killing.
