19 June 2019; DW: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be investigated over the the alleged murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
That is the conclusion of Agnes Callamard, the UN's Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions, who on Wednesday issued her report on the killing.
Callamard cited "credible evidence" that high-level Saudi officials were implicated in the "premeditaed" murder.
"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," Callamard said in her report based on a six-month probe.
The report stressed that "no conclusion is made as to guilt," but Callamard called for "targeted sanctions" against the prince.
There was no immediate reaction to the 100-page report from Riyadh, but the kingdom has regularly denied Prince Salman's involvement in Khashoggi's murder.
The report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council, whose 47 members include Saudi Arabia, on June 26.
'Chilling and gruesome' materials
Callamard led an international inquiry into the killing in the Saudi consulate In Istanbul.
After a visit to Turkey in February, Callamard said that Turkish investigators were hampered in their investigation of Khashoggi's killing in Istanbul.
"Evidence collected during my mission to Turkey shows (a) prima facie case that Mr Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the state of Saudi Arabia," Callamard said.
The UN investigator said that her team could not find Khashoggi's remains but they did have access to a part of "chilling and gruesome audio materials" that were obtained by Turkish authorities.
'Lack of transparency'
Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who was an outspoken critic of Saudi Arabia's ruling family, was killed on October 2 at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. He had been living in exile in the US and was picking up paperwork ahead of his marriage.
His murder sparked international outcry. Saudi Arabia initially denying that he had been killed and US intelligence officials, among others, accusing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of direct involvement in the murder.
Following the murder, Turkish media published photos showing individuals from Salman's inner circle at the Istanbul consulate where Khashoggi was later murdered. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Khashoggi's murder reached the top levels of the Saudi government.
In January, Saudi authorities opened the murder trial in Riyadh, with the state prosecution announcing it would seek death sentences for five of the 11 suspects.
Turkish officials sought to have the Saudi suspects extradited to Turkey to stand trial there, but Saudi Arabia repeatedly turned down the requests.
UN's extrajudicial executions investigator Callamard has denounced the lack of transparency at the kingdom's Khashoggi murder trial.
