The Information Office of the Saudi embassy in the United States of America conveyed the response of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir to the report of the Human Rights Council on the killing of Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi. A statement by the embassy quoted Minister Al-Jubeir as saying, "There is nothing new in the report of the Human Rights Council's Rapporteur." The minister added that the Rapporteur in his non-binding report, repeats what was published and circulated in the media. He added that the report also contains clear contradictions and baseless allegations, which challenges its credibility. He said: "The trials in the case of the death of Jamal Khashoggi are attended by representatives of the embassies of the five permanent members of the Security Council in addition to Turkey, and Saudi human rights organizations." Al-Jubeir confirmed that the leadership of Saudi Arabia "initiated the necessary investigations, which led to the arrest of a number of individuals accused in the case, investigations are ongoing and trials are under way." In conclusion, Al-Jubeir stressed that the judiciary in the kingdom is the only authority competent to deal with this issue, adding that the judiciary exercises its powers in complete independent. "We strongly reject any attempt to undermine the leadership of the kingdom or to turn the issue away from the course of justice in the kingdom, or influence it in any way," he said, stressing that the kingdom's sovereignty and the powers of its judicial institutions in this case are not negotiable.
