“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,” UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard said in her report on Wednesday based on a six-month investigation, according to Press TV website.
“There is credible evidence, warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials' individual liability, including the crown prince's,” she said.
Callamard further highlighted that an official international criminal investigation into Khashoggi’s murder would make it possible to “build up strong files on each of the alleged perpetrators and identify mechanisms for formal accountability, such as an ad hoc or hybrid tribunal.”
he also called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States, where Khashoggi was a resident, to probe the case, if it has not already done so, “and pursue criminal prosecutions within the United States, as appropriate.”
Callamard went on to say that she had viewed CCTV footage from inside the consulate for her investigation.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of the Saudi crown prince, was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Turkey’s largest city of Istanbul on October 2, 2018.
Riyadh initially said it had no knowledge of his fate, but later blamed the murder on rogue agents.
MNA/PR