UN: Evidence suggests that Khashoggi was murdered by the saudi state

Agnes Callamard, the UN expert on extrajudicial executions during the a week and up to last Sunday have been in Turkey and has led the independent international investigation of the assassination of the saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Photo: Hasan Jamali/AP

"the Evidence gathered in the course of my assignment in Turkey shows in this first stage that Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal and premeditated murder, planned and carried out by officials within the Saudi state," says Agnes Callamard on Thursday, according to Reuters.

has ”greatly hampered” Turkey's efforts to investigate the scene of the crime on the Saudi arabia consulate in Istanbul and delayed the investigation in 13 days, continuing her account of the first phase of the investigation.

Agnes Callamard also requests access to saudi Arabia to continue its work, according to Al Jazeera.

Agnes Callamard. Photo: Karim Kadim/AP

the investigator-in-charge travelled to Turkey together with three experts on inter alia, the investigation of the crime scene.

She says that they gained access to elements of a ”scary and terrible sound recording,” from the time when the journalist died. An audio recording of the Turkish intelligence services have come across and whose content was leaked to the media during the last year.

Callamard is very doubtful that the matter concerning the eleven saudi citizens who are facing trial for murder in his home country, managed in a fair and equitable manner. Saudi authorities said last year that they insisted on the death penalty for five of the eleven defendants.

Thursday's statement is not the final reporting of Agnes Callamards investigation. In June, the commission of inquiry's findings and recommendations are reported to the UN human rights council.

information about the american undersättelsetjänst has documented that the saudi crown prince threatened Jamal Khashoggi to life about a year before his death. According to sources to the New York Times to be the crown prince have said that he would use the ”a bullet” against the journalist if he is not returned to the home country, and ended up criticizing the saudi royal family.

Six non-governmental organisations (NGOS) expresses strong concern about the lack of ”transparency and accountability” in connection with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. They also write that they look seriously at the persecution of the saudi journalists and dissidents.

, Human Rights First, Reporters without borders, Committee to Protect Journalists, PEN America and the Open Society Justice Initiative, which made the writing, where they require four actions.

NGO:s want to CIA's investigation of the assassination and the U.S. president's determination of those responsible for the assassination should be made public and that an ”effective, independent, international investigation” of the circumstances and the responsibility for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi should be carried out.

They also require that journalists, dissidents and activists who have been detained in saudi Arabia for peacefully expressing their views immediately shall be released.