Saudi Arabia quietly held a second court hearing for 11 people facing charges over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an independent UN human rights expert said, criticising the kingdom for its lack of transparency in the proceedings over the grisly slaying.
Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, said she learned of the hearing during her first visit to Turkey last week to investigate the murder.
Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who wrote critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed and dismembered inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last October.
His remains have not been found.
The brutal killing — described by Turkish and US officials as an elaborate plot — has drawn an international outcry about press freedom and Saudi government tactics to quell criticism.
Turkey, which is carrying out its own investigation into Khashoggi's murder, has been frustrated by what Ankara says is a lack of cooperation by Riyadh.
It has also called for an international inquiry.
Khashoggi, a Saudi writer, had gone to the consulate on October 2 to obtain documents for his upcoming wedding to his Turkish fiancee.
