Jamal Khashoggi: Istanbul court transfers murder case to Saudi Arabia
A Turkish court ruled on Thursday to suspend the trial in absentia of 26 Saudis accused of the gruesome killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, with the case to be transferred to Saudi Arabia.
Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote for the Washington Post, was killed on 2 October 2018, at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone for an appointment to collect documents required for him to marry his fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He never emerged from the building.
Cengiz, a Turkish national, announced that she will appeal the transfer of the case.
"We are not ruled here by a family, like in Saudi Arabia. We have a judicial system that responds to the grievances of citizens: as such, we will appeal," she told reporters as she left the Istanbul court.
The court's decision comes despite warnings from human rights groups that turning the case over to the kingdom would lead to a cover-up of the killing which has cast suspicion on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
It also comes as Turkey, which is in the throes of an economic downturn, has been trying to repair its troubled relationship with Saudi Arabia and an array of other countries in its region.
Some media reports have claimed that Riyadh has made improved relations conditional on Turkey dropping the case against the Saudis.
Last week, the prosecutor in the case recommended that the case be transferred to the kingdom, arguing that the trial in Turkey would remain inconclusive.
Turkey’s justice minister supported the recommendation, adding that the trial in Turkey would resume if the Turkish court is not satisfied with the outcome of proceedings in the kingdom.
It was not clear, however, if Saudi Arabia -- which has already put some of the defendants on trial
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