United Nations investigator Agnes Callamard has said on Thursday the probe into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi should not be ended until the final reports were being released in the coming weeks.
According to Al-Jazeera news reports, investigator Callamard, who is leading the investigation into Khashoggi’s murder in Saudi Arabia’s consulate of Istanbul on October 2 last year, is slated to release her reports to the UN human rights council before the beginning of next session in June.
Callamard to Al-Jazeera on Thursday: “My report is … going to spend a lot of time and pages on the next steps and the recommendations and how we provide accountability to Mr. Khashoggi, to his family, friends, and colleagues.”
She added the report will examine how “we ensure that the killing, and the vacuum the killing generated in terms of accountability, [so] that we take steps to address the vacuum”.
She said as she cannot prosecute any suspect, she can provide information to higher UN system, adding, “I can recommend that the perpetrators and the masterminds be tried, but I cannot do that myself.”
Last year, the US Senate, after hour-long CIA assessments, had adopted a resolution terming crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) as responsible for Khashoggi’s murder.
The Saudi Arabi public prosecutors have also indicted 11 suspects in the matter in November, including five suspects who could reportedly face death penalty charges over ordering and conducting the killing.