The arrest of one of the alleged killers of Jamal Khashoggi “will allow a procedure that is not a sham – franceinfo

The arrest in France of one of the alleged killers of Jamal Khashoggi “will allow a procedure which is not a sham of justice as in Saudi Arabia”, reacted Tuesday, December 7 on franceinfo Christophe Deloire, secretary general of RSF. Criticism of Saudi power after being close to it, Jamal Khashoggi, resident in the United States and columnist for the daily Washington post, was assassinated on October 2, 2018 in the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey by a team of agents from Saudi Arabia.

franceinfo: Who was Jamal Khashoggi? Why was his murder so shocking?

Christophe Deloire: He was an important figure in Saudi Arabia, close to the royal family. He was assassinated under barbaric conditions by Saudi agents dispatched from Riyadh. It is a form of innovation to cut a journalist into pieces in a diplomatic chamber. In his last article in the Washington Post, he spoke about the need for freedom of the press in the Middle East and it was echoed around the world. Since then, there have been two procedures. One in Turkey but without the accused and one in Saudi Arabia behind closed doors, neither is satisfactory. There is excellent news this arrest on French territory.

What will this allow?

This will allow the Turkish, perhaps French, police and justice to ask him questions. For the moment, the only ones to have asked him questions are Saudi forces therefore under the control of those who organized the assassination. So we are in a bit of an aberrant case. So this is a first. This will allow a procedure that is not a sham of justice as in Saudi Arabia.

Do we know who the sponsor is? Has the issue been raised?

It has been mentioned in CIA reports which have been partially declassified. There is a sort of certainty given the level of those who had been dispatched to Istanbul to assassinate Khashoggi. It is really the immediate entourage of Crown Prince Mohammed ben Salman. We have filed a complaint in Germany against Mohammed bin Salman and other senior Saudi officials for the persecution of journalists in Saudi Arabia. Mohammed ben Salman recognized general responsibility. Maybe this arrested person will find out more.

Could such a commando act alone?

It’s unlikely. Saudi Arabia is not the kind of country where you act on your own initiative when you are on duty, members of the royal guard. There was a plane sent specially there, so there was an organization that showed that it had taken orders from the Saudi power.