Turkey has decided to end the Jamal Khashoggi case. The prosecutor of the Istanbul court, before which is being held the trial in absentia of 26 Saudi nationals accused of having murdered and dismembered the Saudi journalist, asked Thursday March 31 to “close” the file and transfer it to Saudi Arabia.
A request immediately qualified as “terrible news” by the Reporters Without Borders association in Istanbul. According to her, this decision responds to a request from Saudi Arabia “filed on March 13th”. According to the private DHA news agency, the prosecutor defended his position by arguing that “the case drags on because the orders of the court cannot be carried out, the defendants being foreign nationals”.
Ankara, in the grip of an economic crisis and inflation at its highest for twenty years (nearly 55% over the last twelve months), has been seeking for several months a rapprochement with Riyadh. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced an imminent visit to Saudi Arabia in early January, which has yet to take place. The trial opened before the Istanbul court in July 2020. The next hearing remains for the scheduled time on April 7.
