Justice remains elusive two years after Khashoggi's brutal murder

Journalists and human rights activists continue to call for justice for Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on the second anniversary of his brutal murder inside his country's consulate in Istanbul. 

TRT World released exclusive footage of the crime scene shot by Turkish investigators on Friday as the world reiterated calls for accountability. 

Dozens of activists gathered at a memorial erected in Khashoggi's honour near the Saudi Consulate building in the Turkish city. 

The activists denounced the journalist's slaying, which cast a shadow over the reputation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and criminal proceedings in Saudi Arabia as inadequate.

"Justice has still not materialised,” journalist Turan Kislakci, who was a friend of Khashoggi’s, said. 

"A theatrical court has been in session for two years. However, no details on this subject have been given to the world."

READ MORE: Saudi Arabia continues to target dissidents despite Khashoggi backlash

Saudi trial found wanting

Last month, a court in Saudi Arabia issued final verdicts convicting eight unnamed Saudi nationals in Khashoggi’s 2018 killing. 

The verdicts by the Riyadh Criminal Court came after Khashoggi’s son, who still resides in the kingdom, pardoned five of the convicted individuals, sparing them from execution.

The trial has been widely criticised by rights groups and observers, who said it was conducted behind closed doors and lacked transparency.

"What happened to Jamal Khashoggi’s body? If a court has been in session for two years, we want an explanation," Kislakci said.

Turkey indicts more suspects

Turkey, which had insisted that the suspects be extradited and put on trial in the country, is now trying two of the Saudi crown prince's former aides and other Saudi nationals in absentia. 

Last month, it also indicted six other Saudi nationals, including two former consulate employees.

A team of 15 Saudi agents had flown to Turkey to meet Khashoggi inside the consulate which he visited on October 2, 2018 to pick up documents that would allow him to marry his Turkish fiancee, who waited outside. 

The team included a forensic doctor, intelligence and security officers, and individuals who worked directly for the crown prince’s office, according to Agnes Callamard, who investigated the killing for the United Nations.

Speaking with TRT World, Callamard reiterated her belief that Saudi Crown Prince MBS ordered Khashoggi's murder.

Turkish investigators say Khashoggi was killed and then dismembered with a bone saw inside the consulate. His body has not been found.

Prior to his killing, Khashoggi had written critically of Prince Mohammed in columns for The Washington Post at a time when the young heir to the throne was being widely hailed by Washington for pushing through social reforms.

The Vienna-based International Press Institute, a press freedom advocacy group, decried the lack of justice for Khashoggi in a statement issued earlier this week.

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"Two years have passed since Jamal Khashoggi was murdered, yet Saudi Arabia has failed to name or hold responsible the mastermind behind the killing," IPI Executive Director Barbara Trionfi said. 

"The fact that Saudi Arabia has managed to avoid any real consequences for this abominable act exposes the hypocrisy of human rights discourse by governments that continue to roll out the red carpet for the kingdom."

"The recent verdicts in the Saudi trial are a mockery of justice that the international community should not accept," she said.

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Chemical agents, furnace ovens and wells

Meanwhile, TRT World released previously unseen photos and videos of evidence collected from the crime scene by Turkish investigators. 

The evidence shows the paint-splattered clothes that a so-called "clean-up" crew were wearing when they hastily painted over blood-splattered walls. 

There's also proof the consulate's carpets were all dry-cleaned in the days after Khashoggi's disappearance. 

The dry cleaner’s receipt was left attached to the carpets. 

The investigators looked into several possibilities of how the journalist's body could have been disposed of.

TRT World's Yusuf Erim said the investigators appeared to have found chemical agents inside the Saudi consulate, chemicals that could have been used to remove Khashoggi’s DNA after it was possibly cremated in a clay oven. 

The footage shows a furnace oven, which investigators say, was used extensively in the period he went missing. They also said a baker was called in to fire up the oven as the Saudi hit squad was unable to turn it on.

The investigators' working theories on the journalist's missing remains also include a possible scenario where his dismembered body was wrapped up and disposed of in a well in the consulate premises.

Nothing has been ruled out at this stage.