A prominent human rights group called on Saturday for a "neutral and independent" UN-led investigation into death of Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th October, 2018) A prominent human rights group called on Saturday for a "neutral and independent" UN-led investigation into death of Saudi opposition journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Earlier, Saudi Prosecutor General Saud bin Abdullah Muajab stated that Khashoggi had died as a result of a brawl with some people at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Muajab said that 18 people had been detained within the case, adding that the perpetrators of the killing would be held accountable.
"We at Amnesty International, along with other organizations, call for a neutral and independent UN-led investigation of at the request of Turkey. It must be neutral, because the investigation conducted by the Saudi Arabian authorities remains doubtful and raises many questions," Senior Crisis Adviser for Amnesty International, Rawya Rageh, said on Twitter.
Rageh stressed that the investigation should be carried out by those who do not have close ties with the authorities of Saudi Arabia, because they might be involved in the death of a journalist.
"The investigating party should be far from the authorities, possibly implicated in his murder, especially after these authorities denied obvious facts for more than two weeks. Official statements also do not answer many questions and are completely opaque," the human rights activist concluded.
Khashoggi, known for his criticism of Saudi policies, has recently been working as a columnist for The Washington Post. The journalist was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. Riyadh is investigating into the journalist's disappearance together with Ankara.
Turkish officials have said that the Saudi authorities were behind the killing of Khashoggi, something denied by Riyadh.
