The trial in absentia of 26 Saudi Arabians, accused of killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has been suspended by a Turkish court.

A panel of judges has ruled that the case be transferred to Saudi Arabia in a move that has dismayed human rights organisations.

Mr Khashoggi‘s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, said the two countries “may be opening a new chapter” but the “crime is still the same crime…and the people who committed the crime haven’t changed”.

Mr Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, was killed on 2 October 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

He went to the consulate to collect documents ahead of his marriage to Ms Cengiz but never emerged.

Intelligence officials in Turkey believe he was murdered and his body dismembered by a bone saw. His remains have never been found.

Discussing the decision taken on Thursday, Ms Cengiz added: “We are faced with an incident. We can’t say, ‘Yes, countries are entering into an agreement, after this we’ll leave the case to Saudi Arabia like nothing ever happened.’

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“If there’s an agreement being made, it shouldn’t be in this way.”

Jamal Khashoggi had moved to the United States and became a well-known critic of the Saudi regime, in particular Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

His killing resulted in widespread international condemnation of Saudi Arabia with many suggesting the orders had come from the very top.

Saudi Arabia blamed a rogue group, operating without authorisation, and sentenced five men to death in 2019. Those sentences have since been reduced to prison terms.

At the time, Saudi state television announced that five of the eight defendants had been sentenced to 20 years in prison each, and that two had been sentenced to 17 years each. One was issued with a 10-year sentence.

Turkey, which has long had a fractious relationship with Saudi Arabia, is trying to improve relations with its fellow Middle Eastern state.

Turkish ministers have said the case will remain open in Turkey until they are satisfied that justice is done in Saudi Arabia, but Riyadh has said the trials held there in 2019 stand as the final verdict.

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