Qatar Press Centre deeply concerned over missing Saudi journalist

The Qatar Press Centre has said it is deeply concerned over the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he had entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and was alleged to have been brutally killed there.

The centre said in a statement issued yesterday it was “following with great concern the developments regarding the suspicious disappearance of the colleague Khashoggi, since the first day and the controversy and ambiguity that made his case followed-up with interest by the world at large.”

It urged the human rights and freedom of expression organisations to take strong positions on the issue, calling for honest and independent investigations to reveal the truth and expose those involved in this case away from political calculations.

The centre said “it will continue to follow up on all developments related to the disappearance of Khashoggi until the situation is resolved.” The Qatar Press Centre denounced any attempts to conceal and waste time to dilute the case before presenting the full facts to the world.

It confirmed its principled positions rejecting all forms of targeting journalists and restricting them, expressing the hope that the investigation bodies would reveal the circumstances and announce the fate of Khashoggi immediately and prosecute the perpetrators with transparency, especially as this event represents a message to every free journalist in the world and violates the most basic international laws, international human rights law and the United Nations conventions on the right to freedom of expression.