Investigating team of UN to listen to Khashoggi murder audio

An advisor to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says a United Nations human rights expert will listen to the audio recordings of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi as part of an investigation.

Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard and her team of experts met Tuesday with advisor Yasin Aktay, a friend of Khashoggi's. He told reporters the team would have access to the audio, according to Turkish media.

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.

The team on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary killings will leave on Feb. 3. It has met with Turkey's foreign and justice ministers and the prosecutor leading the case.

The UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner last week said that the international investigation would be led under Callamard's authorization and it would "review and evaluate, from a human rights perspective, the circumstances surrounding the killing of Khashoggi."

Callamard is being accompanied by Baroness Helena Kennedy, QC, and Professor Duarte Nuno Vieira from the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

The UN delegation Wednesday carried out examinations around the Saudi Consulate General in Istanbul, then spoke to Irfan Fidan, the chief public prosecutor of the city.

Callamard is going to provide her findings and recommendation on the murder investigation as a report in the UN Human Rights Council session scheduled for June.
Khashoggi, a contributor to The Washington Post, was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After producing various contradictory explanations, Riyadh acknowledged he was killed inside the consulate building, blaming the act on a botched rendition operation.

Turkey has sought the extradition of the Saudi citizens involved in the killing as well as a fuller accounting of the killing from Riyadh.