France, Finland and Denmark have decided to sanction the country. This is not justified by the case of Khashoggi alone.
In the case of Khashoggi, other countries have adopted sanctions against Saudi Arabia. After Germany, France imposed entry bans on 18 suspected Saudi Arabians. The Foreign Ministry did not rule out further measures. In addition, France intends to explore ways of dealing with serious violations of human rights together with its European partners.
Denmark and Finland, on the other hand, cease their military exports to Saudi Arabia. In addition to the killing of Khashoggi, Denmark also mentioned the increasing deterioration in the already bad situation in Yemen.
The government in Finland cited the stop as „the alarming humanitarian situation in Yemen“ and invoked EU criteria for arms sales. In addition to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab States are no longer to be supplied with Finnish weapons.
Saudi Arabia is leading a military coalition that is fighting in Yemen against the Shiite Houthi rebels. The coalition also includes the United Arab Emirates.
The case of Khashoggi is still not fully understood. The Saudi government critic entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to collect documents for the wedding with his Turkish fiancé. He never showed up again.
According to previous findings, he was killed on the same day in the consulate building. Saudi officials repeatedly denied the Crown Prince’s connection to the death. The Saudi Public Prosecutor’s Office has demanded the death penalty for five suspects.
According to media reports, the suspicion is now confirmed that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is involved in the crime. The Hürriyet newspaper website quoted a prominent commentator as saying that the CIA had a sound recording indicating that the Crown Prince was involved in the crime.
US President Donald Trump rejected this presentation but back. „You have not come to a final conclusion,“ he said about the CIA investigation.
Despite the sanctions, the Saudi crown prince remains calm: Bin Salman went on his first trip abroad after the Khashoggi affair. After the announcement of Riad he wants to visit „several related Arab states“. First stop on his journey: the allies in the United Arab Emirates.
