THE WORLD TODAY

Fiancee’s plea for justice at Khashoggi trial

THE fiancee of Jamal Khashoggi told a Turkish court that the Washington Post columnist was lured to his death at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul through “a great betrayal and deception”.

Hatice Cenzig also asked that all those responsible for the killing of her fiancee be brought to justice.

Cengiz spoke at the opening of the trial in absentia of two former aides of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and 18 other Saudi nationals who were charged in Turkey for Khashoggi’s grisly slaying.

The journalist’s 2018 killing at the consulate sparked international condemnation and cast a cloud of suspicion over the prince.

The 20 Saudi defendants all left Turkey, and Saudi Arabia rejected Turkish demands for their extradition.

Some of the men were put on trial in Riyadh behind closed doors. The proceedings were widely criticised as a whitewash.

Khashoggi’s family members later announced they had forgiven his killers.

The trial in Turkey is being closely watched for possible new information or evidence from the killing, including the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s remains.

Khashoggi, who was a United States resident, had walked into his country’s consulate on October 2, 2018, to pick up documents that would allow him to marry his fiancee but never walked out.

“He was called to that consulate with great betrayal and deception,” Cengiz told the court.

“I am making a complaint about everyone at the consulate. Everyone from the driver to the tea-maker.”

Turkish prosecutors have demanded the defendants be sentenced to life in prison, if convicted.