Recordings reveal Khashoggi tortured then dismembered while still alive

Yeni Şafak daily has obtained information indicating that there are numerous voice recordings from inside the Saudi consulate located in Turkey’s Istanbul where missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi entered on Oct. 2 and never reemerged.

In one of the recordings, Saudi Arabia's Consul General Mohammad al-Otaibi, who left Turkey for Riyadh on Tuesday, can be heard saying: “If you want to live, be quiet!”

Sources indicate that Khashoggi was tortured before he was killed. His fingers were allegedly cut off during the interrogation process before he was decapitated.

The consul general can be heard saying: “Do this outside. You’re going to get me in trouble.”

Khashoggi has long been feared killed after he entered the Saudi Consulate building in Istanbul on Oct. 2 and was never seen exiting.

He moved to Washington last year fearing retribution for his criticism of Prince Mohammed, who has cracked down on dissent with arrests.

On same day Khashoggi went missing, 15 other Saudis, including several officials, arrived in Istanbul on two planes and visited the consulate while Khashoggi was still inside, Turkish police sources said. All of the identified individuals, including a forensic expert, have since left Turkey.

“It took seven minutes for Jamal Khashoggi to die, a Turkish source who has listened in full to an audio recording of the Saudi journalist's last moments,” told the Middle East Eye.

The source said Khashoggi was “dragged from the Consul General’s office at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and onto the table of his study next door. The screaming stopped when Khashoggi was injected with an as yet unknown substance. Head of forensic evidence in the Saudi general security department Salah Muhammad al-Tubaigy began to cut Khashoggi’s body up on a table in the study while he was still alive. As he started to dismember the body, Tubaigy put on earphones and listened to music. He advised other members of the squad to do the same.”

Since Khashoggi’s disappearance, many global media outlets have claimed that recordings of his death inside the consulate exist.

Turkish officials have told Reuters that authorities have an audio recording indicating that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, and have shared evidence with countries including Saudi Arabia and the United States. Saudi Arabia has denied any role in Khashoggi's disappearance.

Police found “certain evidence” of Khashoggi’s slaying at the consulate, a high-level Turkish official told the Associated Press on Tuesday.