Tuesday, December 7, 2021

France Arrests Accused Khashoggi Killer


Jamal Khashoggi

French police have arrested a man accused of being one of the killers of Saudi journalist and dissident, Jamal Khashoggi, in Istanbul in 2018. Khalid Alotaibi was arrested at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris as he was about to board a flight to Riyadh. It is expected that he will be extradited to Turkey.

The below news article today from France 24 is translated by Fousesquawk.

 https://www.france24.com/fr/info-en-continu/20211207-affaire-khashoggi-un-des-meurtriers-pr%C3%A9sum%C3%A9s-du-journaliste-saoudien-a-%C3%A9t%C3%A9-arr%C3%AAt%C3%A9-en-france-source-polici%C3%A8re

Khashoggi affair: One of the alleged killers of the Saudi journalists arrested in France

Caption beneath photo: Turkish police officer in front of a photo of the murdered Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi at Istanbul, 2 October 2019.

One of the Saudi suspects in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 was arrested Tuesday in France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport, where he was preparing to depart for Riyadh, according to the police. The man had been sought by Interpol pursuant to an arrest warrant for murder issued by Turkey.

An alleged member of the commando implicated in the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 in Istanbul was arrested Tuesday, December 7 in the afternoon at the Parisian airport (Roissy) Charles de Gaulle and placed in judicial detention, we have learned from judicial and airport sources.

Khalid Alotaibi, 33, was arrested by border police as he was preparing to take a flight to Riyadh, a source close to the case indicates.

This ex-member of the Royal Saudi Guard had been sought by Interpol pursuant to an arrest warrant for murder issued by Turkey in 2019, according to RTL information.

According to a police source, the French public prosecutor will begin the extradition procedure to Turkey. At the end of his detention (period) Wednesday, he will appear before the prosecutor, who will notify him of the arrest warrant.

Jamal Khashoggi, formerly close to Saudi power, of which he had become a fierce detractor, was murdered on the premises of the consulate of his country in Istanbul, on October 2, 2018, by a commando of agents from Saudi Arabia. His dismembered, body has never been recovered.

After having denied the assassination, Riyadh finally said that it had been committed by Saudi agents acting on their own. At the end of an opaque trial in Saudi Arabia, 5 Saudis were condemned to death and three to prison sentences-the capital sentences have since been commuted.

-With AFP and Reuters



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