ISTANBUL: A United Nations human rights expert visited the vicinity of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday as part of her investigation into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard and her team of experts toured around the consulate but did not enter, saying they were waiting for permission from Saudi officials they were in communication with.
The expert on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killing said she would present her report in June to the UN’s Human Rights Council.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who wrote critically about the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct 2. His remains have not been found.
Callamard’s team is on a weeklong visit to Turkey and is expected to meet with Istanbul’s chief prosecutor.
They have also met the country’s foreign and justice ministers.
Turkish officials have been frustrated over what they say is a lack of cooperation by Riyadh and has called for an international inquiry.
In a tweet, the Turkish president’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun, welcomed the visit: “We still do not know where Khashoggi’s body is, who ordered the hit and who the ‘local collaborator’ was.”
After denying Khashoggi was killed in the consulate for several weeks, Saudi Arabia indicted 11 people in the killing, including members from the crown prince’s entourage, and is seeking the death penalty against five of them.
Turkey says Saudi Arabia must reveal the identity of a person who is thought to have disposed of the journalist’s body and hold all involved accountable.