Turkey claims new audio, video evidence of Khashoggi murder

Turkey says it has new evidence that Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate last week.

2 min read

12 October, 2018

Khashoggi disappeared on 2 October [Getty]

Turkish investigators say they have new evidence that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul last week.

Sources told the Washington Post that it had video and audio recordings of Khashoggi's torture and murder, on tje consulate's grouds pointing to orders from the Saudi leadership to kill the journalist.

Khashoggi entered the consulate on the 2 October to complete paperwork, but has not been seen since.

Saudi Arabia claimed he left the consulate but have not provided evidence to back up their claims and said the CCTV cameras in the building were not working on that day.

Turkish sources have already told media that Khashoggi was murdered and have claimed Riyadh directly ordered his killing, due to his criticism of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Further proof was unveiled on Friday with the claims of the video and audio evidence of Khashoggi's gruesome demise.

"The voice recording from inside the embassy lays out what happened to Jamal after he entered," a source told the US daily.

"You can hear his voice and the voices of men speaking Arabic... You can hear how he was interrogated, tortured and then murdered."

Sources have already claimed that a 15-man murder squad was dispatched to Turkey from Saudi Arabia to kill the journalist and hide his body.

Saudi Arabia's state-run broadcaster al-Arabiya claimed on Thursday that the men were tourists, something that has been ridiculed by people familiar with the case.

On Thursday, Ankara announced the formation or a joint Turkish-Saudi investigative team to look into Khashoggi's disappearance, but a separate Turkish probe will continue.

Saudi Arabia had promised to allow Turkish investigators to search the consulate but denied access when the names and identities of the 15 suspects was leaked to media.

Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia two years ago and settled in the US where he contributed opinion pieces to the Washington Post.

He grew more critical or Mohammed bin Salman's policies and the war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition force has contributed heavily to the 10,000 plus death toll.