The Paris-based group said in a statement that it had lodged the complaint with a federal court in Karlsruhe, Germany, on Monday, requesting that prosecutors conduct a formal investigation. The court confirmed to CNN Business that it had received the complaint.
According to Reporters Without Borders, the charge accuses the Crown Prince and four other Saudi officials of having ‘organizational or executive responsibility’ for the assassination of Khashoggi, as well as involvement in ‘developing a state policy to attack and silence journalists. ‘
Saudi officials did not immediately respond to CNN‘‘s requests for comment on the Reporters Without Borders.
Saudi Arabia has denied the allegations. The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement following the publication of the report, saying that the country ‘completely rejects the negative, false and unacceptable assessment in the report regarding the Kingdom’s leadership, noting that the report contains inaccurate information and conclusions.
The crown prince denied that he ordered the murder of Khashoggi, but said he was responsible.
“It was a heinous crime,” he said in an interview with CBS in 2019. “But I take full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia, especially because it was committed by individuals working for the Saudi government.”
The assassination of Khashoggi and the arrests ‘reveal a system that threatens the life and liberty of any journalist in Saudi Arabia – especially those who speak out publicly against the Saudi government’, Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. . Saudi Arabia is 170 of the 180 countries in the group’s World Press Freedom Index.
“Those responsible for the prosecution of journalists in Saudi Arabia, including the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, should be held accountable for their crimes,” said Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters. “While these serious crimes against journalists continue unabated, we call on the German prosecutor to take a stand and investigate the crimes we have uncovered.”
Reporters Without Borders said Germany’s judiciary was the “best suited system” to receive its complaint because the courts had the right to investigate international crimes and “had already shown willingness and willingness to prosecute international criminals.”
In June 2019, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summarizing or Arbitrary Executions, Agnes Callamard, found it ‘unthinkable’ that the Saudi royal heir was not aware of the operation. In September 2020, a Saudi court sentenced eight suspects to prison, a sentence Callamard called a “parody of justice.”
Last week, Callamard called on the United States to fully declassify its findings regarding Khashoggi’s ‘cruel extrajudicial execution’, saying that because his remains have yet to be traced, the international crime of forced disappearance continues.
“His loved ones are still undergoing further suffering until Saudi Arabia announces what has been done with its surplus,” she said.
– Godley, Sarah El Sirgany and Nic Robertson will report.