Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag said that referring the case of the trial of those accused of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia is in full compliance with the law.
On Thursday, the Turkish judiciary decided to refer the case of the trial of those accused of the murder of Khashoggi to the Saudi judicial authorities.
The decision was issued by the 11th Criminal Court in Istanbul, which is responsible for examining the Khashoggi murder case, in a session in which the 26 people accused of Khashoggi’s murder were absent.
During a televised interview with the Turkish “A Haber” channel, on Monday evening, Bozdag indicated that the course of the case in Turkey will be determined according to the decision that Saudi Arabia will take.
In response to a question about criticism related to referring the trial of the 26 defendants to the Saudi judicial authorities, Bozdag stressed that it is necessary to look at the law instead of political criticism.
He added, “No progress has been made in the trial since 2018, because there are 26 defendants and for their trial, they should be brought before the Turkish court, and because they are Saudi citizens, this has not been possible until today.”
He said that stopping the case and referring it to Saudi Arabia is “completely in line with the law.”
He explained that Article 24 of Law No. 6706 provides for the possibility of transferring investigation and prosecution, in crimes punishable by imprisonment for a period exceeding one year, in the event that the suspect or accused cannot be brought before the court or his defense cannot be obtained through legal aid because he is a citizen of countries foreign.
On October 2, 2018, Khashoggi was killed inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul , and the case has become one of the most prominent and discussed on the international agenda since then.
