The criminal trial in Saudi Arabia of individuals suspected of being involved in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi does not meet the requirements of an independent and international probe requested by the UN’s top rights official, Michelle Bachelet, her office said on Friday.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Ravina Shamdasani from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), confirmed that her office was aware that the trial was under way.
According to reports, eleven defendants went on trial in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Thursday.
Five suspects face the death penalty if convicted of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, who was a critic of the Kingdom and has not been seen since he visited his country’s consulate in Istanbul, on the afternoon of 2 October.
Shamdasani said that the High Commissioner’s office had spoken “several times” to the Saudi authorities about the Khashoggi case, before underlining her office’s stance on the Saudi Public Prosecutor’s call for the death penalty.
The OHCHR spokesperson noted that her office had no official representation in the Gulf Kingdom~UNTV CH
