Jamal Khashoggi strangled as soon as he entered consulate, Turkey prosecutor says

Jamal Khashoggi was strangled to death immediately after entering the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 for marriage formalities, Turkish Prosecutor Irfan Fidan said.

Jamal Khashoggi. AP Photo

NEW DELHI: Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul earlier this month as part of a premeditated killing, and his body was dismembered before being disposed of, Istanbul Chief Prosecutor said on Wednesday. The office of Prosecutor Irfan Fidan said: "In accordance with plans made in advance, the victim, Jamal Khashoggi, was strangled to death immediately after entering the Consulate General of Saudi Arabia in Istanbul on October 2, 2018 for marriage formalities." Jamal Khashoggi was suffocated immediately after entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul on October 2, the statement added, as it reiterated a request for the extradition of suspects arrested by Saudi Arabia in the case of the brutal murder. "The victim's body was dismembered and destroyed following his death by suffocation - again, in line with advance plans," AFP quoted Fidan's office as saying in a statement. "Despite our well-intentioned efforts to reveal the truth, no concrete results have come out of those meetings." According to the statement Khashoggi's killing was "pre-planned and his body parts were disposed off after being dismembered". He was "choked immediately" after entering Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul to get documents for his forthcoming marriage, it said. Fidan's office said discussions this week with his Saudi counterpart, Saud al-Mojeb, had yielded “no concrete result” despite "good-willed efforts" by Turkey to uncover the truth. According to the statement, Fidan asked Mojeb about the location of the journalist's body and whether the Saudi investigation had reached any findings regarding plans to kill Khashoggi. Khashoggi was killed after entering Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. As per 'leaked' reports, days after he was killed inside the consulate, the body parts of the dissident journalist were found at the Saudi consul general's home. According to Sky News, the 59-year-old Washington Post contributor's body had been "cut up" and his face "disfigured". A former royal family insider turned critic of the Saudi crown prince, Khashoggi, 59, disappeared after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to collect a document for his upcoming marriage. The case has shone the spotlight on the crown prince, who was credited with reforms, including giving women the right to drive, but is now accused of having ordered Khashoggi's murder -- a claim Riyadh denies.

 (With inputs from agencies)