A friend of the Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi, assassinated in 2018 in Istanbul, said on Tuesday November 24 that he had received threats from a relative of the crown prince of Arabia, at the resumption of a trial symbolic in Turkey.
Twenty Saudis, including two relatives of Crown Prince Mohammed ben Salman, known as “
MBS
”, are tried in absentia in Istanbul for the murder of Khashoggi at the Arabian consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. The second hearing took place on Tuesday.
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In court, Ayman Nour, an Egyptian opponent who was close to Khashoggi, said the late journalist had been threatened by Saud al-Qahtani, a former advisor to the crown prince who is among the accused, according to media reports.
"
Jamal told me that he was receiving threats from Qahtani and his entourage,
" Nour said, quoted by the daily Sabah.
Former close to Saudi power, Khashoggi had become a dissident, accused of links with the Muslim Brotherhood hated by Riyadh.
The former
Washington Post contributor
, whose remains have never been found, was 59 years old.
His murder plunged Riyadh into one of its worst diplomatic crises and tarnished the image of MBS.
Ryad claimed he was killed in an unauthorized operation, but Turkish and American officials believe that the assassination could not have been carried out without the approval of MBS.
An opaque trial took place in Saudi Arabia, after which five people were sentenced to death.
In September, their sentences were commuted to 20 years in prison.
Read also: Khashoggi affair: Donald Trump boasted of having "saved the skin" of the Saudi crown prince
Relations between Ankara and Riyadh, two regional rivals, have also deteriorated considerably since the murder.
In this context of tensions, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and King Salman of Arabia had a rare telephone interview on Saturday before a virtual G20 summit.
The trial in Istanbul opened in July.
The Turkish authorities present Mr. Qahtani and General Ahmed al-Assiri, former intelligence number two, as the sponsors.
During the hearing on Tuesday, the court also rejected the request of the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) to become a civil party.
"
We are disappointed (...), but we will continue to follow this trial closely and call for respect for international standards
," said Rebecca Vincent, director of international campaigns for RSF, in court.
The trial has been adjourned until March 4.