UNDER WRAPS

Saudis Held Secret Court Hearing for Accused Khashoggi Killers: U.N. Expert

Human-rights expert hits out at the kingdom for secretive hearing.

Saudi Arabia held a secret court hearing for the 11 people facing charges over the brutal murder of Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi, according to a United Nations human-rights expert. Agnes Callamard, the U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, told the Associated Press the second hearing took place on Jan. 31 and she hit out at the kingdom for its approach to the trial. “Given the importance of the case, we should be expecting a greater presence of representatives of the media, of civil society, of a range of other governments, not just those hand-picked by the Saudi authorities,” said Callamard. Saudi Arabia is yet to reveal the defendants’ names or even the names of their lawyers. It’s not clear if they’re being detained during the trial and, if so, where they’re being held. Turkey wants the suspects to be extradited to Istanbul, where the killing took place, but the kingdom has rejected the idea of trying the suspects abroad.

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