Turkish court rejects appeal against transfer of Kashoggi trial to Riyadh
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A court in Ankara on Wednesday rejected an appeal filed against transferring the trial of slain journalist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, reported media outlets.
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's Turkish fiancé, had appealed the court’s decision to hand Saudi Arabia a case involving dozens of suspects linked to his murder.
Ankara’s 14th Administrative Court rejected the appeal, reported Bianet media outlet, noting that another appeal filed about Khashoggi’s transfer case in Istanbul is yet to be decided on.
The 59-year-old journalist was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, in a gruesome murder that stroked the world. Khashoggi walked into the consulate building and never walked out, his body has not yet been found.
Earlier this month, a Turkish court confirmed the transfer of Khashoggi's murder trial, which had begun in 2020, to Riyadh, upsetting his loved ones, lawyers, and rights groups.
Amnesty International’s Milena Buyum called the decision “appalling and clearly political."
Five people were handed death sentences by Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi's killing but a Saudi court in September 2020 overturned them while giving jail terms of up to 20 years to eight unnamed defendants following secretive legal proceedings.
Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's Turkish fiancé, had appealed the court’s decision to hand Saudi Arabia a case involving dozens of suspects linked to his murder.
Ankara’s 14th Administrative Court rejected the appeal, reported Bianet media outlet, noting that another appeal filed about Khashoggi’s transfer case in Istanbul is yet to be decided on.
The 59-year-old journalist was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, in a gruesome murder that stroked the world. Khashoggi walked into the consulate building and never walked out, his body has not yet been found.
Earlier this month, a Turkish court confirmed the transfer of Khashoggi's murder trial, which had begun in 2020, to Riyadh, upsetting his loved ones, lawyers, and rights groups.
Amnesty International’s Milena Buyum called the decision “appalling and clearly political."
Five people were handed death sentences by Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi's killing but a Saudi court in September 2020 overturned them while giving jail terms of up to 20 years to eight unnamed defendants following secretive legal proceedings.