Saudi detective accused of Khashoggi cover-up appointed to lead terror court

Saudi Arabia has appointed a detective accused of being involved in the cover-up of Jamal Khashoggi's murder to the country's top terrorism court, a prominent rights group said on Thursday, citing a Saudi government document.

The decree, originally issued on 9 June and obtained by Democracy for the Arab World Now (Dawn), appointed Awadh bin Ali bin Ayedh al-Mayshar al-Ahmari to serve as the president of the Specialised Criminal Court.

In total, the decree appointed at least 10 detectives and prosecutors to serve as judges in the court, a move Dawn says is unprecedented in the kingdom.

Saudi woman sentenced to 45 years in prison over social media posts

Lire

According to the rights group, Ahmari was involved in the cover-up of the murder of Khashoggi, a US resident and a columnist for The Washington Post and Middle East Eye.

He travelled in 2018 with Saudi Attorney-General Saud al-Mojeb to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where Khashoggi was killed, in order to investigate the matter.

A 2019 report by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings said the Saudi delegation who arrived at the scene helped to clean up evidence of the murder and prevented Turkish authorities from accessing the crime scene.

"The crown prince is appointing loyalist security officials who lack even basic training as judges to its kangaroo 'counter-terrorism' court, punishing the mildest social dissent with shocking sentences," Abdullah Alaoudh, Gulf director at Dawn, said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Rewarding a detective involved in the cover-up of Jamal Khashoggi's murder with an appointment to head this court is only the latest snub to accountability for the murder, and a glimpse into the government's staggering disregard for justice and due process."

Increased Saudi repression

The decree was issued by Saudi Arabia ahead of US President Joe Biden's visit to the kingdom. Biden had come into office promising to hold Riyadh accountable for Khashoggi's killing, and early in his term released a redacted intelligence report concluding Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was responsible for the killing.

However, the visit, where he bumped fists with the crown prince, was criticised by rights groups in the US as failing on his promise to hold Saudi leadership accountable.

Dawn added that the Biden visit emboldened the kingdom to escalate its crackdown on Saudi civil society and commit a litany of abuses against human rights activists.

'President Biden's fist-bump with MBS has ushered in an even more extreme level of oppression and human rights violations in Saudi Arabia'

- Abdullah Alaoudh, Gulf director at Dawn

"There's no mistaking the fact that President Biden's fist-bump with MBS has ushered in an even more extreme level of oppression and human rights violations in Saudi Arabia," Alaoudh said.

The judicial appointments by the kingdom follow the arrest and sacking of nine prominent judges by Saudi Arabia's State Security Agency this past April. A series of extreme prison sentences followed the appointments.

In August, Saudi Arabia's Specialised Criminal Court issued a 34-year prison sentence to Leeds University PhD candidate Salma al-Shehab, then issued a 45-year prison sentence to Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani over charges of "using the internet to tear [Saudi Arabia's] social fabric".

The revelation of the appointments comes amid turbulence in the US-Saudi relationship, after the Saudi Arabia-led Opec+ decided last week to cut oil production by two million barrels a day. Washington sees the move as politically motivated and siding with Russia in the Ukraine war.

The Biden administration has said it is currently reviewing the relationship, while prominent lawmakers are openly calling for a halt to arms sales to the kingdom and a withdrawal of US troops and military support from the region.

The Saudi embassy in Washington did not respond to Middle East Eye's request for comment on this story.