EU maintains demands for credible probe into Khashoggi

By Yusuf Hatip

BRUSSELS (AA) - The European Union reiterated calls for a detailed and reliable investigation into Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate.

The EU stance into Khashoggi case has not changed, Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said in response to an Anadolu Agency reporter.

"We continue to call for a thorough and credible investigation in line with everything that we have said on Khashoggi case over the past months," she said.

UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard recently visited Turkey to investigate Khashoggi’s murder and issued a written statement Thursday.

"Evidence collected during my mission to Turkey shows prime facie case that Mr. Khashoggi was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia,” Callamard said in the statement.

"Turkey’s efforts to apply prompt; effective and thorough; independent and impartial; and transparent investigations -- in line with international law -- had been seriously curtailed and undermined by Saudi Arabia," she added.

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.