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‘Credible evidence’ links Saudi Crown Prince to Jamal Khashoggi’s murder: UN report

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman should be investigated over the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a UN rights expert has concluded, citing “credible evidence”.

UN extrajudicial executions investigator, Agnes Callamard, said Khashoggi’s killing “constituted an extrajudicial killing for which the State of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is responsible”.

Al Jazeera reported that the findings of the report are “damning”.

“It’s a report that is pretty certain of who is to blame – she says Saudi Arabia is responsible for premeditated murder,” Bays said.

“It completely blows away the official Saudi cover story that this was a botched plan to seize Khashoggi and take him back to Saudi Arabia,” he added.

There was no immediate reaction from Riyadh which was sent the 100-page report in advance.

Using recordings of conversations from inside the Istanbul consulate where Khashoggi was killed, her report pieces together his last moments, and how he was confronted by a Saudi officials , one of whom said: “We are coming to get you.”

When Khashoggi refused to cooperate, a struggle can be heard, including heavy panting. The special rapporteur’s report concludes:

“Assessments of the recordings by intelligence officers in Turkey and other countries suggest that Mr Khashoggi could have been injected with a sedative and then suffocated using a plastic bag.”

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