Tánaiste must demand answers on Khashoggi disappearance

Labour Party Leader and Foreign Affairs spokesperson Brendan Howlin TD has called on the Tánaiste to seek answers from Saudi Arabia about what happened the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Deputy Howlin said:

“There have been shocking allegations concerned a prominent Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi who entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey and has not been seen since. It has been alleged that he was tortured, killed and dismembered.

“There are now claims that audio and video recordings exist that capture the journalist being murdered.

“These are extraordinary and shocking allegations. The world is reacting to it, with businesses withdrawing from an investment conference planned in Riyadh for later this month.

“The French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken out calling for answers from Saudi Arabia, but Ireland hasn’t.

“As the UN Secretary General said ‘We need to know exactly what has happened’. The Tánaiste is currently campaigning around the world to secure a seat for Ireland on the UN Security Council.

“We would be better off acting as a beacon for truth and justice on the global stage. The Tánaiste should demand answers from Saudi Arabia, and should work with our EU colleagues to secure that.

“We were very quick to sanction Russia and expel diplomats over the use of chemical weapons in the UK. Now it is alleged another regime has disappeared a well-known journalist.

“Ireland cannot stand idly by when regimes feel that they can act to kill and disappear those who challenge them.”