The trial of 26 Saudi nationals accused of the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been halted in Turkey and the case has been returned to Saudi Arabia.
Khashoggi, a staunch critic of Saudi Arabia’s regime and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed on October 2, 2018, while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain paperwork proving his divorce from his ex-wife.
The decision to transfer the case to Saudi Arabia comes after human rights groups warned that doing so would result in a cover-up of the killing, which has put suspicion on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“We decided to pause and send over the matter to Saudi Arabia,” the judge informed the court.
Last week, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag indicated he would support a Turkish prosecutor’s request to hand over the case to Saudi Arabia on the latter’s request.
The prosecutor stated that the case was “dragging” since the court’s orders could not be followed out because the defendants were foreigners.
On Thursday, defense counsel Ali Ceylan warned the court that there would be no fair trial in Saudi Arabia.
He used a Turkish proverb to suggest, “Let us not give the lamb to the wolf.”
Gokmen Baspinar, another defense counsel, said the move by the justice ministry was “against the law.”
“At the time, there is no prosecution in Saudi Arabia,” he stated. “The trial in Saudi Arabia has come to a close, with several suspects acquitted.”
He claimed that turning the issue over to Riyadh would be a “breach of Turkish sovereignty” and “an example of carelessness against Turkish people.”
The decision has infuriated civil rights organizations.
The Istanbul Court of Appeal “In a single phrase, they agreed to hand over the case to Saudi authorities. It wasn’t even mentioned that the lawyers’ demands were denied “Amnesty International’s Milena Buyum said.
“Appalling and plainly political choice,” she tweeted.
The kingdom had condemned five people to death for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, but a Saudi court overturned the sentencing in September 2020, imposing jail terms of up to 20 years to eight nameless defendants after clandestine judicial proceedings.
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s girlfriend, said she will appeal the ruling, which she was present at on Thursday.
Turkey is a country in Europe “Unlike Saudi Arabia, it is not ruled by a family. We have a justice system that deals with citizen complaints “Outside Istanbul’s main court, she informed journalists.
“In accordance with our legal system, we will appeal the ruling.”
She promised to fight back in an interview with AFP “Continue to struggle. Whoever surrenders has surrendered. I’ll keep going. The legal battle itself is sometimes more essential than the outcome.”