Ghana’s Parliament on Wednesday condemned the grisly murder of Saudi Arabia journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey
The West African country’s lawmaking chamber also called for an independent investigation into the heinous act, noting that it will reject any cover up to shelve the main perpetrators of the crime.
The Washington Post columnist was last seen in public when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2.
Turkish authorities said 15 Saudi men who arrived in Istanbul on October 2 were responsible for the disappearance and murder of the journalist who was an ardent critic of the Saudi government. At least some of them appear to have high-level connections in the Saudi government.
After initial denial and claims that Khashoggi left the consulate shortly after arriving, the Saudi Kingdom later admitted the journalist was murdered.
According to the Kingdom, he was killed in a “rogue operation” that the leadership had been unaware of.
Khashoggi murder affront to media freedom, independence
In a statement on the floor, the leader of the Minority side of the House Haruna Iddrisu described the murder of the Khashoggi as an “affront to the freedom of expression and the independence of the media.”
Rejecting the rogue operation of the Saudi Kingdom, Iddrisu said, “There are various attempts to cover up circumstances of his murder, we will not accept the cover up and this parliament should not accept the cover up so that this will never ever be repeated.
Iddrisu entreated the United States not to help the Saudi Kingdom to cover up the murder saying: “The United States of America must be reminded that values are timeless and that rights in particular fundamental human rights beginning with the first generation of liberty, the right to live, Jamal Khashoggi has been denied the right to live.”
“Mr. Speaker, this parliament should not accept a cover up by the West, in particularly by the United States of America in the convenient interest of trade with Saudi Arabia. We will not accept it and we should not accept it.
“If this was done in the corridors of the United States we know what they would have done. As I said, human rights are indivisible, we all have made a commitment to respect it. The US must respect that a criminal activity has been occasioned and they must go beyond their narrow trade interest into ensuring that no cover up and the perpetrators are punished,” he said.
Murder was premeditated
The Killing of Khashoggi in the Kingdom’s Istanbul consulate was premediated, the country’s Attorney General said.
“The public prosecution received information from the Turkish side through the Joint Working Group between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Turkish Republic, indicating that the suspects in Khashoggi’s case premeditated their crime,” Attorney General Shaikh Suood bin Abdullah Al Mo’jab said.
“The public prosecution continues its investigations with the accused in accordance with the latest investigation results to reach the facts, God willing, and complete the course of justice.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM