French judiciary appoints investigating judge in Jamal Khashoggi murder case

France’s National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office has appointed an investigating judge to examine the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, marking a new legal development following a Paris appeals court decision accepting complaints filed by human rights organizations over the 2018 crime inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

The prosecutor’s office confirmed that a judge from the crimes against humanity unit will investigate the complaint submitted by TRIAL International and Reporters Without Borders concerning allegations of torture and enforced disappearance.

According to media and human rights sources, the complaints target Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, accusing him of ordering Khashoggi’s killing. The appeals court reportedly stated that the possibility of classifying the acts as crimes against humanity “cannot be ruled out.”

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist residing in the United States, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, where a Saudi team murdered him and dismembered his body in an attempt to conceal the crime.

SANAD Human Rights Organization stated that this judicial development opens an important path toward holding those responsible for Khashoggi’s murder accountable, particularly Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and highlights the importance of continued international legal and human rights efforts to combat impunity for extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.