No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) welcomes the criminal complaint filed by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) with the German Public Prosecutor General against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and other high-ranking Saudi officials for crimes against humanity committed against journalists. The lawsuit concerns in particular the case of Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018 as well as 34 arbitrarily detained journalists, including 33 currently in detention (among which Raif Badawi).
As highlighted by RSF’ s complaint, the gruesome killing of Jamal Khashoggi is not an isolated case, but is part of a systematic state policy of repression to silence independent and dissenting voices who had simply been exercising their right to freedom of speech, that has intensified since Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman came to power in June 2017.
NPWJ looks forward to the German judicial authorities to formally launch a prosecutorial investigation and contribute to hold accountable those who bear the greatest reponsability for instigating this atrocious “state crime” and ordering the widespread crackdown against journalists by all means deemed necessary.
For further information, read the Press release issued by Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
Read also:
- Jamal Khashoggi’s murder: how much longer will MBS benefit from the impunity he enjoyed so far?, 26 February 2021
- Silent Complicity: the Saudi G20 as Normalisation of Violence, Virtual UK Parliament briefing, 18 November 2020
- Jamal Khashoggi’s murder: Hatice Cengiz files a lawsuit in the US against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, 19 October 2020
- Violation of human rights in Saudi Arabia: NPWJ welcomes EP’s call to downgrade EU’s participation in the G20 summit, 8 October 2020
- Commemoration of the second anniversary of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, European Parliament, 2 October 2020
- Jamal Khashoggi’s murder: NPWJ looks forward to Turkish legal proceedings finally bringing truth and justice, 3 July 2020
- Ending Impunity: Now Is the Time for a UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Situation in Saudi Arabia, Niccoló Figa-Talamanca, Secretary General of NPWJ, Just Security, 8 April 2020
- Hatice Cengiz and others call for United Nations Special Rapporteur on Saudi Arabia, citing need for human rights scrutiny and justice, Geneva, 10 March 2020
- NPWJ and FIFDH convene panel discussion on “Human Rights Crisis in Saudi Arabia, Geneva Press Club, 10 March 2020
- Khashoggi murder: Saudi death sentences a travesty of justice, 23 December 2019
- “Verità e giustizia per il giornalista Jamal Khashoggi”, 16 dicembre 2019, Roma
- Visit to Brussels of Agnès Callamard, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and Hatice Cengiz, fiancée of Jamal Khashoggi, 3 December 2019
- Human Rights and Freedom Under Siege, United Nations HG, New York, 26 September 2019
- NPWJ organises side event on “Silencing Dissent”, Geneva, UNHRC, 41th Session, Palais des Nations, 25 June 2019
- Peninsular Perspectives: Human rights and accountability in the UAE and the region, Washington DC, USA, 15 January 2019
- Saudi Arabia: Over 160 groups call for accountability following murder of journalist and widespread arrest of women’s rights defenders, 26 October 2018
- Saudi Arabia: NPWJ welcomes European Parliament’s clear, strong stand on the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, 25 October 2018
