Senior Turkish Official Slams Saudi Verdict in Khashoggi Case

Fahrettin Altun, director of communications for Turkey’s government, has called the Saudi verdicts and sentencing in the slaying of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi an “insult to the intelligence of any fair observer.” Taking to Twitter on Tuesday, Altun was referring to the death sentences handed down by a Saudi court on Monday for five relatively low-ranking individuals involved in the strangulation and dismemberment of Khashoggi at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. More senior Saudi officials deemed close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de factor ruler, were either acquitted or never charged despite evidence of their alleged complicity from Turkish and Western intelligence services. Khashoggi was a vocal critic of the crown prince. “This despicable murder was done at a diplomatic facility against every diplomatic norm imaginable! We will follow this case to the end regardless [of] how high it goes,” Altun tweeted.