EU reiterates call for 'credible' probe into Khashoggi

The EU reiterated on Wednesday its call for a “credible and transparent” investigation into the case of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

“We have asked and expect that Saudi Arabia cooperates on a thorough, credible and transparent investigation and we insist on the need for clarity on the circumstances of his death and full accountability of all those responsible for it,” the bloc’s Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said on behalf of the EU.

In a statement marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, Mogherini said: “We pay tribute to all those journalists around the world who lost their lives and suffered attacks in the exercise of their profession.

“We also pay tribute to all those brave journalists who are taking up the work of their colleagues who can no longer pursue their investigations.”

She went onto say that without a “free, diverse and independent media” democracy could not live.

“The assassinations of investigative journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia and Jan Kuciak in the EU, demonstrate that no region of the world is immune to this,” she added.

Galizia was killed in Malta in October 2017 and Kuciak in Slovakia in February 2018 as both of them were investigating high-level corruption cases in their countries.

Mogherini urged that those crimes needed to be thoroughly investigated as well as the case for killing of Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and columnist for The Washington Post, went missing after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2.

After initially saying he had left the consulate alive, the Saudi administration admitted weeks later he had died there.

Investigation of the incident suggests a special hit squad came to the consulate to kill Kashoggi and cover up the murder

The international community refused to accept the Saudi claim that the incident was not a premeditated murder.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that all details of the case should be revealed, including who gave the instruction for the “premeditated murder.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said he could impose sanctions on Saudi Arabia, but also signaled that he did not want to harm bilateral relations.

Telephoning Erdogan, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman promised necessary cooperation. The chief prosecutor's office in Riyadh also announced that the murder was planned.