Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Kalamar, regretted what she saw as the failure of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to take a more courageous stand regarding her investigation into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“After my investigation into the killing of Khashoggi, I concluded that there is reluctance on the part of the United Nations to take a courageous position and take these investigations one step further,” she told a news conference Friday at UN headquarters in New York.
In response to questions from journalists about her belief in the involvement of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the crime, the UN Special Rapporteur said: I may not talk what I think because this means undermining the UN mandate under which I work.
“But what I can say here is that we know with certainty that this murder was well planned and resourced, that it was also a state crime and was deliberately committed and monitored, and that senior Saudi officials participated in it.”
However, Kalamar confirmed the existence of facts indicating the role of the Crown Prince in the murder of Khashoggi, which took place inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018.
After 18 days of denial and conflicting interpretations of the incident, Riyadh announced the killing of Khashoggi after a fight with Saudi people, and the arrest of 18 citizens in the framework of investigations, without disclosing the location of the body.
Last July, the UN rapporteur published a 101-page report, blaming Saudi Arabia as a state for the deliberate killing of Khashoggi.
Kalamar confirmed at the time that there was credible evidence requiring investigation of senior Saudi officials, including Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Several human rights organizations have criticized the secretary-general for not using his powers under the UN Charter to order the formation of an international commission of inquiry into the killing of the Saudi journalist.
