Althouse: "A court in Turkey transferred the trial in the murder of the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia on Thursday..."

April 7, 2022

"A court in Turkey transferred the trial in the murder of the Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia on Thursday..."

"... a move almost certain to end the last case that held out hope of serving some measure of justice for a heinous crime that drew global outrage. The Turkish decision was a blow to human rights advocates who had hoped the trial in Turkey would at least make public more evidence of who was involved and how Mr. Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad in 2018 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to get paperwork he needed to marry his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz. 'Let’s not entrust the lamb to the wolf,' Ali Ceylan, a lawyer for Ms. Cengiz, told the court on Thursday before the decision was announced. 'Let’s protect the dignity and honor of the Turkish nation....'"

From "Turkey Transfers Khashoggi Murder Trial to Saudi Arabia/The move will almost certainly end the last trial aimed at serving justice for a heinous crime that caused global outrage" (NYT).

23 comments:

David Begley said...: A trial in Saudi Arabia? LOL.; 4/7/22, 5:55 AM
Tim said...: Well, it is not justice, but it sounds like it is the law? Is not the Saudi Embassy Saudi territory? IANAL, but I am pretty sure that is the way it works?; 4/7/22, 6:17 AM
gilbar said...: bogus as this sounds.. If the murder took place on Saudi territory, WHY was it ever in Turkish courts?; 4/7/22, 6:23 AM
Christopher B said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/7/22, 7:00 AM
Christopher B said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/7/22, 7:01 AM
Christopher B said...: Keep up with both Matt taibbi and Glenn Greenwald for why none of our 'journalists' bat an eyelash that this guy was in deep with various intelligence services. Hint - they all are (or imagine themselves to be) operatives with by-lines.; 4/7/22, 7:01 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "bogus as this sounds.. If the murder took place on Saudi territory, WHY was it ever in Turkish courts?"

The murder took place in Turkey.; 4/7/22, 7:52 AM
tommyesq said...: The murder took place in Turkey.

Actually, it took place in the Saudi consulate in Turkey. A consulate is considered territory of the country it represents, so the murder legally took place in Saudi Arabia.; 4/7/22, 7:58 AM
Achilles said...: The word Journalist sure doe a lot of work for these people.

Khasshogi was as much a journalist as I am a journalist.; 4/7/22, 8:11 AM
Howard said...: Jared Kushner is happy.; 4/7/22, 8:44 AM
Rocketeer said...: “The murder took place in Turkey.”

No, it did not. That’s not the way consulates and embassies work.; 4/7/22, 9:17 AM
Joe Smith said...: Khashoggi was not a 'journalist' but was an active agent against Saudi interests.

What did he expect, a party?; 4/7/22, 9:58 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: “Khashoggi was not a 'journalist' but was an active agent against Saudi interests.”

Up until his execution, the Saudi aristocracy had been very split on the subject of armed Jihad against the Crusaders. The Khashoggis were very close to the Bin Ladens, and in favor of taking the Jihad to the west, and, in particular, the US. The 9/11 attacks on the US were funded by, and mostly staffed by, this faction. The king, and esp the current crown Prince don’t see us as the enemy, but rather Allie’s against common enemies.

The execution occurred in the midst of a cleansing of the Saudi government of anti-Saudi government Jihadi elements, and there was a luxury hotel filled with other princes and very rich Saudis awaiting either death and/or being stripped of their wealth, on the grounds of corruption. Yes, that was part of it, but I think more importantly, they were anti-American, and the Saudi government needs the weapons, training, etc that we provide them. This move also allowed Saudi Arabia to find peace with Israel for the first time.

We are used to constitutional monarchies like the UK, where much of the crown’s former power has been ceded to the legislature (Parliament), but the Saudi king (and crown Prince) retain the sort of power that monarchies in Europe haven’t seen in centuries. The distinction here is important in looking at what Khashoggi had been doing, and why he was executed. Since the country is the monarchy, he was engaged in sedition, among other crimes. He reminds me a bit of the fate of Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury, during the reign of Henry II. He was actively working to undermine the Crown Prince, in particular, and in an absolute monarchy, that is sufficient to justify his death.; 4/7/22, 11:54 AM
Freder Frederson said...: Keep up with both Matt taibbi and Glenn Greenwald for why none of our 'journalists' bat an eyelash that this guy was in deep with various intelligence services. Hint - they all are (or imagine themselves to be) operatives with by-lines.

Even if true, it does not justify the Saudi Government luring him into a consulate and murdering him in cold blood.; 4/7/22, 12:02 PM
takirks said...: Khashoggi was a documented bag man for al Qaeda. It is highly likely that he was connected to and working with the factions within the Saudi government that vetted the 15 Saudi 9/11 highjackers, enabling their presence in the US. I would speculate that the faction inside the Saudi government that helped enable 9/11 is what Prince Muhammed bin Salman has been going after, due to their activities. I would further speculate that the reason behind that was that they fundamentally failed with their little world-revolutionizing hobby, and the Saudi royal family has decided that they're too dangerous to Saudi interests to leave running wild any more.

There is a strong streak of enlightened self-interest inherent to the Saud family, when you get down to it. The loose cannons within the family who decided it was a good idea to strike at their primary ally in the name of religious purity? Probably being eliminated as we discuss this, and I'd submit that Khashoggi was involved in all that. His death ain't coincidental.; 4/7/22, 12:04 PM
Freder Frederson said...: Khashoggi was not a 'journalist' but was an active agent against Saudi interests.

What did he expect, a party?

And this justifies summary execution how?; 4/7/22, 12:06 PM
Joe Smith said...: 'And this justifies summary execution how?'

He knew exactly what he was doing.

He was stupid.

Where did I say he deserved getting killed?

I didn't.

But he was a big boy who pissed off the Saudis.

Not a smart move for a supposedly smart man.

Had he been in Saudi Arabia proper I'm sure they could have come up with an excuse to try him and execute him under their legal system.

And according to lefties, all cultures are valid...; 4/7/22, 12:45 PM
rcocean said...: And I'm supposed to care, because why?

i can remember when this happened and you had the usual NYT/WaPo liberal outrage of the week, but then it died down and that was it. Wasn't this supposed to hurt Trump somehow?
I think that's was why; 4/7/22, 1:36 PM
n.n said...: Arab Spring?; 4/7/22, 1:52 PM
Christopher B said...: I've never seen the people who want to exonerate Hillary and Obama for enabling the deaths of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans in Benghazi calling for the Libyans to extradite their killers to the US or put them on trial in Libya.

What makes those men different from Khashoggi?; 4/7/22, 1:56 PM
Static Ping said...: Terrible people murdered another terrible person in a throwback to 8th century Arabic power plays. Unfortunate, but the situation was generally unfortunate before the act and it remains unfortunate now.

I do not have a cheering interest here, just curiosity. This sort of thing would have been typical everywhere until at least the 15th century, would have remained common in the 19th century and early 20th century, and it still lingers. Really, the only reason it has lessened is the reduced importance of royal families; these days we need to settle for military coups and rigged elections.; 4/7/22, 2:02 PM
Michael K said...: Even if true, it does not justify the Saudi Government luring him into a consulate and murdering him in cold blood.

Field Marshall Freder is upset that a lefty spy was murdered in "cold blood." I suspect it was hot blood as he had a long history. Also, Saudi culture and all.; 4/7/22, 2:09 PM
svlc said...: I see that we are still playing the game that he was a "journalist". What a crock.; 4/7/22, 2:36 PM