Khashoggi strangled and dismembered in consulate: Turkey prosecutor

Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled as soon as he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and then dismembered as part of a premeditated plan, Turkey’s chief prosecutor has said, making details of the murder public for the first time. Gruesome reports in the Turkish media had previously alleged that Khashoggi, a 59-year-old Washington Post contributor critical of the powerful Saudi crown prince, had been killed and cut into pieces by a team sent from Riyadh to silence him. His body has not been found. “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,” said a statement from the office of Istanbul chief prosecutor Irfan Fidan. “The victim’s body was dismembered and destroyed following his death by suffocation – again, in line with advance plans,” it added.

However a senior Turkish official said earlier  that Saudi officials seemed “primarily interested in finding out what evidence Turkey had against the perpetrators”.