Khashoggi murder trial moved to Saudi Arabia

A Turkish justice minister agreed Thursday to transfer the trial of 26 Saudis accused of murdering journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia. Prosecutors said the trial was impeded by the absence of defendants that Saudi Arabia refused to extradite. The move comes as Turkey has been seeking to repair deteriorated relations with Saudi Arabia, but groups like Human Rights Watch worry that the Saudi justice system will cover up the trial.

What happened to Khashoggi? He was a United States resident and Washington Post columnist who wrote critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi went to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, to collect documents required for him to get married, but he never came out. Turkish officials alleged a hit team killed and dismembered him, and his remains have not been found. A Saudi court convicted eight unnamed people in the case in 2019, but the U.S. Congress said the crown prince must have known about the operation, especially as two of his aides are listed as defendants. Khashoggi’s fiancée plans to appeal the decision. 

Dig deeper: Listen to Jill Nelson’s report in The World and Everything in It podcast on how the Biden administration has handled relations with Saudi Arabia in the wake of Khashoggi’s death.