Saudi Arabia’s Public Prosecution released a briefing on the investigation into the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. Below is the full text of the briefing, emailed by the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C.
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Public Prosecution: A Briefing on the Investigation Results
The Public Prosecution said in a press briefing that through the investigation carried out up to date with the 21 suspects in the case of the murder of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi, the investigation has resulted in the following findings:
1. The incident began on 19/1 /1440 (29/9/2018) upon the issuance of an order to bring back the victim by means of persuasion, and if persuasion fails, to do so by force. The former Deputy President of the General Intelligence Presidency (GIP) issued this order to the leader of the mission.
2. The leader of the mission formed a 15-member team that consisted of three groups (negotiations/ intelligence/ logistics) to persuade and return the victim. The leader of the mission suggested to the former Deputy President of the GIP to assign a former colleague to head the negotiation group in the team because of his previous relationship with the victim. This former colleague was assigned at the time to work with a former Advisor.
3. The former Deputy President of the GIP contacted the former advisor to request assignment of the individual with whom the victim had a previous relationship. The former advisor agreed to this request and asked to meet the leader of the mission.
4. The former advisor met with the leader of the mission and the negotiation team; to share with them information relevant to the mission based on his specialization in media. The former advisor expressed his belief that the victim was co opted by organizations and states hostile to the Kingdom and that the victim’s presence outside of Saudi Arabia represents a threat to national security and he encouraged the team to persuade the victim to return, noting that his return represents a significant achievement of the mission.
5. The leader of the mission contacted a forensics expert to join the team for the purpose of removing evidence from the scene in the case force had to be used to return the victim. The forensics expert joined the team without the knowledge of his superiors.
6. The leader of the mission contacted a collaborator in Turkey to secure a safe location in case force had to be used return the victim.
7. After surveying the Consulate, the head of the negotiation team concluded that it would not be possible to transfer the victim by force to the safe location in case the negotiations with him to return failed. The head of the negotiation team decided to murder the victim if the negotiations failed. The investigation concluded that the incident resulted in murder.
8. The investigation concluded that the crime was carried out after a physical altercation with the victim where he was forcibly restrained and injected with a large amount of a drug resulting in an overdose that led to his death, May Allah bless his soul.
9. The investigation has identified those that ordered and carried out the murder, totaling (5) individuals that have confessed to the murder.
10. After the murder the victim’s body was dismembered by the individuals that have committed the murder and was transferred outside the consulate building.
11. The investigation concluded that the body was removed from the Consulate building by (5) individuals.
12. The individual who delivered the body to the collaborator has been identified.
13. Based upon the description provided by the individual who delivered the body to the collaborator, a composite sketch of the collaborator has been produced.
14. The investigation identified the individual who wore the victim’s clothes after the murder and disposed of the victim’s belongings in a trash receptacle, including his watch and glasses, after leaving the Consulate building. In addition the investigation identified the individual that accompanied him.
15. The investigation established that the surveillance cameras in the Consulate were disabled, and the investigation identified the individual responsible for doing so.
16. The investigation found that (4) suspects provided the logistical support to those who carried out the crime.
17. The investigation concluded that the leader of the mission agreed with the negotiation group and their head (that made the decision to murder the victim and carried out the crime) to write a false report to the former Deputy President of GIP that stated that the victim had left the Consulate building after the failure of negotiating or forcing his return.
