DROI Chair urges Saudi authorities to disclose Jamal Kashoggi’s whereabouts 

“A journalist, Jamal Kashoggi is a staunch defender of human rights who in the past constantly denounced human rights violations in Saudi Arabia. He disappeared a week ago after having entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

I urge the Saudi authorities to disclose Jamal Kashoggi’s whereabouts. Should the preliminary conclusions of Turkish security authorities pointing to his assassination on the premises of the Saudi consulate be confirmed, I call on the EU and its Member States to respond strongly and reassess their relationship with Riyadh, including military sales.

Kashoggi’s murder would do more harm to Saudi Arabia’s worldwide reputation than his most scathing newspaper columns.

The European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights has been closely monitoring the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, before and after its visit to Saudi Arabia in October 2017. It has repeatedly called for the release of political detainees in Saudi Arabia, including the Saudi blogger and Sakharov laureate Raif Badawi and women’s rights defenders.

The confirmation of Jamal Kashoggi’s assassination would further increase the European Parliament’s concerns about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.”

Contact:

Office of MEP Pier Antonio PANZERI

• +32(0)2 28 45349
• pierantonio.panzeri@europarl.europa.eu