Amassing international support for Riyadh’s recently announced decision on the murder case of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi continued whereby world states reasserted their confidence in the Kingdom’s prosecution and called for halting all politicization attempts.
“Moscow points out that from the outset Saudi Arabia has adopted an approach to conduct a thorough and objective investigation into this incident, including cooperation with the Turkish authorities,” the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement to Russian news agency Novosti on Friday.
“Khashoggi's case, as Riyadh has repeatedly claimed, is led by the leadership of the Kingdom, which considers the detection of all those involved in the crime as quickly as possible and punishes them in a way that they deserve,” they added.
The Foreign Ministry official stressed further that Russia sees “no reason to question the ability of the Saudi authorities to deal with this high-profile case at the proper professional level.”
Addressing the Politicization of the issue, he stressed that Moscow was convinced that it was “inadmissible”, as such cases needed to be "resolved exclusively within the legal framework.”
The official's statement comes after the Saudi Prosecutor General's Office announced on Thursday the completion of the investigation into Khashoggi's murder, saying 21 people had been detained in connection with the case, with 11 of them indicted. Prosecutors are demanding the death penalty for five of the defendants.
Other than Russia, officials from Lebanon and Kuwait have also called for blocking all politicization attempts exploiting the Khashoggi murder case.
For his part, Muslim World League (MWL) Chief Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul Karim Al-Isa stressed that the statement issued by the Saudi prosecution regarding Khashoggi has clarified the truth and given details of its criminal reality, answered questions with evidence and documentation, demanded justice and held perpetrators accountable.
He added that the statement represented the Kingdom’s sound and decisive approach against all criminals.
