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The seventh episode of IPI’s podcast series IPI Freedom Dialogues: Turkey is out now!
In the seventh episode of IPI Freedom Dialogues: Turkey podcast, host Cansu Çamlıbel and her guest Agnès Callamard, United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, discussed the case of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was brutally murdered two years ago at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The murder sparked a massive international outcry even as justice remains out of reach.
Previous episodes of IPI’s Freedom Dialogues: Turkey podcasts are available here.
On June 19, 2019, Callamard issued her findings from a special investigation into the case. Her report found credible evidence of high-level Saudi officials’, including Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, individual liability in Khashoggi’s murder.
In the podcast, Callamard explained her investigation process in detail. She said that responsibility for the killing lay not just with those who carried it out, but with those who organized and ordered it. And she underlined that contrary to Saudi claims of a “rogue operation”, the Saudi government bore responsibility and had failed to be held accountable.
Callamard argued that Crown Prince Muhammed bin Salman’s reputation is not the same as it was before the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. ‘’I don’t think Saudi Arabia is getting away with unpunished. The message sent is clear: You cannot fully get away with killing a journalist’’, she said.
Topics covered in the podcast include:
- The investigation process into the murder of Jamal Khashoggi
- The real perpetrators who gave the order and details of her report
- The U.S. involvement to the investigation
- The journalistic aspect of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi
- The message sent to the international community and authoritarian regimes
Highlights from the episode (Agnès Callamard):
- “I am absolutely in no doubt in concluding that the killing of Jamal Khashoggi was a state killing.’’
- “Even in the trial there are some who stated that they (hitmen) acted upon order so I think there are not too many contradictions, tensions, differences of views as to what happened to Jamal Khashoggi.’’
- “The Turkish investigation was extremely limited by the decision, which was a [Saudi] state decision, to prevent a proper, effective and thorough investigation.’’
- “He was murdered because he had a great deal of legitimacy in his own country, had many followers on social media, people respected him and people believed him.”
- “After moving to exile he chose to not only use his pen to raise an alarm about the situation in Saudi Arabia but he also decided to work with others, in projects which sought to counter the Saudi propaganda in Saudi Arabia and abroad.”
About IPI Freedom Dialogues: Turkey
The International Press Institute (IPI) is proud to launch the new podcast series IPI Freedom Dialogues: Turkey, a platform for timely, vital conversations on press freedom, freedom of expression and the future of quality journalism. You’ll get the inside story from some of Turkey’s most trusted editors, journalists and relevant experts as they analyse and shed light on key journalism-related issues in Turkey for both local and international audiences. Episodes will be available in both English and Turkish.
As independent journalism in Turkey faces massive repression, its practitioners are fighting to keep the public informed and reinvent the profession to face the challenges to come. Hear from the experts.
IPI Freedom Dialogues: Turkey is hosted by Cansu Çamlıbel, editor-in-chief of the popular English language news site Duvar English and a member of IPI’s Turkey National Committee. Before joining Duvar, Çamlıbel was the U.S. correspondent of Hürriyet Daily News.
