UN reiterates need to hold Khashoggi killers to account

5 years ago

Commemoration ceremony held in front of the US Congress on the 3rd anniversary of the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Washington, United States on October 02, 2021 [Yasin Öztürk/Anadolu Agency]

The UN reiterated on Tuesday the need to hold accountable those accused of killing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Arabian Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October, 2018.

What was the role of Prince MBS in Jamal Khashoggi’s death – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Earlier on Tuesday, French media quoted judicial sources in reports that police at the Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport north of Paris had arrested Khalid Al-Otaibi, 33, on the basis of an international arrest warrant issued by Turkey. He was detained just before he was due to board a flight for Riyadh.

Commenting on Al-Otaibi’s arrest, Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said, “We are facing a judicial process that is taking place at the moment.”

Dujarric added during a press conference in New York that the secretary-general’s position has been clear from the beginning, which is his emphasis on the need “to implement the principle of accountability” in the Khashoggi murder. Al-Otaibi is suspected of being one of the 20-member Saudi hit squad that killed the Washington Post columnist.

In September 2020, a Saudi court sentenced “unnamed persons” found guilty of Khashoggi’s murder to prison terms ranging from seven to 20 years.

READ: Justice for Khashoggi has not been achieved 3 years after his murder