US intelligence believes that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, approved an operation to kidnap or kill Saudi journalist Jemal Hashkuji. The corresponding conclusions are given in the report of the Office of the Director of US National Intelligence, TASS reports.
“We believe that the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman, approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jemal Hashkuji,” the report says.
In October 2020, the bride of the murdered journalist Jemal Hashkuji filed a lawsuit against the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, accusing him of involvement in this crime.
On September 7, a court in Saudi Arabia sentenced eight people to prison for the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jemal Hashkuji. The judges changed their minds to execute the murderers – it was assumed that five of them would be subjected to capital punishment. Five people were sentenced to 20 years in prison, one convict will spend ten years in prison, two more – seven years. The journalist's bride called this court decision a farce.
Hashkuji disappeared on October 2, 2018 after a visit to the Saudi Consulate General in Istanbul. He went there to obtain documents that would help him file a divorce and remarry a Turkish woman. Turkish media, citing sources in law enforcement and investigative agencies, reported that the authorities have confirmation that Hashkuji was brutally tortured in the consulate building and then killed.
The Turkish government publication Yeni Safak, citing audio recordings confirming the massacre at the consulate, reported that the journalist's fingers and head were cut off during the torture. Other media also referred to the same audio recordings, but the Turkish authorities did not present them to the general public.
