Can diplomats get away with murder?

November 14, 2018

Sailesh Mehta – published in the Law Gazette

After two weeks of prevarication the Saudi government has admitted that the dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in their consulate in Istanbul. Details have been drip-fed to the media by the Turkish authorities, which have contained an unusual amount of detail about ho Khashoggi died, who was involved and importantly where and when the murder took place. A combination of international pressure and detailed disclosures, likely to have been obtained by the latest surveillance technology, that has forced the Saudis to change their earlier denials. All this begs the question, does international and domestic law allow diplomats and consuls to get away with murder?

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