Read details of the last 10 minutes in life of Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate at Istanbul

At the G-20 summit in Osaka this week, US President Donald Trump ignored questions on the murder of US resident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. He also ignored the role of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, praised him for spectacular work and called him his friend.

In the process, Trump ignored the conclusions drawn by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the UN Special Rapporteur that there are credible evidence of the Saudi Crown Prince having ordered the execution.

In a chilling report last week, the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial executions for the UN Human Rights Agency, Agnes Callamard, provided graphic details of the Saudi dissident and US-based journalist’s last moments. Her conclusion: There is credible evidence that point to official Saudi involvement in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.

Excerpts from the 99 page report:

Once inside the Consulate, Mr. Khashoggi appears to have been met by someone he knew. He also said something about the Consul General being present. He was invited to the office of the Consul General located on the second floor of Consulate.

According to recordings, the conversation with him first focused on whether Mr. Khashoggi would come back to Saudi Arabia, and he responded that he wanted to return in the future. Mr. Khashoggi was then told: “We will have to take you back. There is an order from Interpol. Interpol requested you to be sent back. We are coming to get you.”

Mr. Khashoggi replied that “there isn’t a case against me. I notified some people outside; they are waiting for me; a driver is waiting for me.” Later on, Mr. Khashoggi is heard to say that there was no driver but that his fiancée is waiting for him. On several occasions, a Saudi official told Mr. Khashoggi “let’s make it short.”

At 13:22, Mr. Mutreb asked whether Mr. Khashoggi had phones. Mr. Khashoggi replied “Two phones.”

“Which brands?”

“Apple phones.”

“Send a message to your son.”

“Which son? What should I say to my son?”

Silence.

“You will type a message – let’s rehearse; show us.”

“What should I say? See you soon? I can’t say kidnapping.”

“Cut it short.”

“Take off your jacket.”

“How could this happen in an embassy?”

“I will not write anything.”

“Cut it short.”

“I will not write anything.”

“Type it, Mr. Jamal. Hurry up. Help us so that we can help you because at the end we will take you back to Saudi Arabia and if you don’t help us you know what will happen at the end; let this issue find a good end.”

At 13:33, Mr. Khashoggi said “there is a towel here. Are you going to give me drugs?”

“We will anesthetise you.”

In the recordings, sounds of a struggle can be heard during which the following statements could also be heard:

“Did he sleep?”

“He raises his head.”

“Keep pushing.”

“Push here; don’t remove your hand; push it.”

Assessments of the recordings by intelligence officers in Turkey and other countries suggest that Mr. Khashoggi could have been injected with a sedative and then suffocated using a plastic bag. Turkish Intelligence also noted that the Saudi members of the 15 persons team spoke of a rope, but they could not conclusively determine if the rope was used to tie Mr. Khashoggi or possibly to move his body, or if it was used at all.

Sounds of movement and heavy panting could be heard in the remainder of the recordings. The sound of plastic sheets (wrapping) could also be heard. Turkish Intelligence concluded that these came after Mr. Khashoggi’s death while the Saudi officials were dismembering his body.

The Turkish Intelligence assessment identified the sound of a saw at 13:39.

The Special Rapporteur and her delegation could not make out the sources of the sounds they heard.

The exact time of Mr. Khashoggi’s death could not be confirmed with certainty. The ten minutes reference is based on the fact that after ten minutes, Mr. Khashoggi’s voice was not heard.

Turkish Intelligence official prohibited the Special Rapporteur from taking notes of the recordings at this point. The conversations from this point on have been reconstructed from memory.

Around 15:00, CCTV cameras captured a consular van and another vehicle leaving the Consulate’s garage and arrive at the Consular General’s Residence at 15:02. The cameras recorded three men enter the Residence with what seem like plastic trash bags, and at least one rolling suitcase. Turkish Investigators have not been able to identify the size, the shape or the type of bags that the three Saudis carried into the Residence or where they may have purchased them.

At 15:53, CCTV cameras recorded Mr. Almadani accompanied by Mr. Alqahtani exit from the Consulate’s back door. Mr. Almadani wore what appeared to be Mr. Khashoggi’s clothes. Mr. Alqahtani had a white plastic bag with him.

The two got into a taxi and traveled to the Sultanahmet District. At 16:13, they entered the Blue Mosque where Mr. Almadani changed clothes. At 16:29, they got into a taxi that took them to the Levent Metro Station. Somewhere near the metro station they threw away the plastic bag into a garbage bin. They returned to the Movenpick Hotel at 18:09.

On 19 October, in a statement on Saudi state television, the country’s chief prosecutor admitted that Mr. Khashoggi had been killed in the Consulate. He said that a fistfight broke out between Mr. Khashoggi and suspects in the Consulate, which led to Mr. Khashoggi’s death.

How Saudi Arabia spied

On 1 October 2018, Citizen Lab, a Canadian academic research lab, reported that the cell phone of Saudi political activist Omar Abdulaziz had been infected with Pegasus spyware which is produced and sold by NSO Group. Citizen Lab attributed the infiltration to a Pegasus operator linked to Saudi Arabia.

Pegasus had allowed the Saudi-linked operator to access Mr. Abdulaziz’s phone contacts, photos, text messages, online chat logs, emails, and other personal files. The operator also had the ability to use the phone’s microphone and camera to secretly view and eavesdrop on Mr. Abdulaziz.

Mr. Abdul aziz has lived in Montreal, Canada, since 2009. At the time his phone was infected, Mr. Abdulaziz was in frequent contact with Mr. Khashoggi. The two discussed human rights issues in Saudi Arabia and projects to strengthen human rights in their homeland.

In some messages, Mr. Khashoggi also criticised the policies of the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). In one message, Mr. Khashoggi said “Arrests are unjustified and do not serve [MBS] (logic says), but tyranny has no logic, but he loves force, oppression and needs to show them off. He is like a beast ‘pac man’ - the more victims he eats, the more he wants. I will not be surprised that the oppression will reach even those who are cheering him, then others and others and so on. God knows.”

In December 2018, Mr. Abdulaziz filed a lawsuit in Israel against the NSO Group alleging that the company helped Saudi authorities to infiltrate his phone and spy on Mr. Khashoggi. The lawsuit claims that in the months before the killing, the Saudi authorities had access to Mr. Khashoggi’s communications with Mr. Abdulaziz by infecting Mr. Abdulaziz’s phone with Pegasus spyware.

NSO Group has denied the allegations. Mr. Abdulaziz has also filed lawsuits against Twitter and the American consultancy firm McKinsey & Company.