The Hill: The threat of a UN investigator exposes bin Salman’s criminal retinue

The Hill’s report considered the Saudi threats against a UN investigator as evidence that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s entourage is criminal.

The Hill said that the death threats that Agnes Callamard received from a high-ranking Saudi official indicate the criminal nature of those surrounding bin Salman.

The website added that these threats are evidence that bin Salman and his entourage did not learn lessons from what happened in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Callamard, the organization’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, reported that one of her UN colleagues had alerted her to a fellow UN colleague’s threat in January 2020.

A Saudi official was alleged to have made two threats to Callamard during a meeting of senior UN officials in Geneva. The official reportedly threatened to “take care of her” if the United Nations did not rein her in.

“That was the concept,” said Callamard when asked what colleagues thought of the statement.

After UN officials expressed concern about the threat, other Saudi officials tried to reassure them that the threat should not be taken seriously, The Guardian reported.

But after the officials left, the Saudi official stayed and repeated their alleged threat to UN officials.

Callamard said that during the “high-level” meeting between Saudi diplomats in Geneva, visiting Saudi officials and senior UN officials.

The Saudis angrily criticized Callamard’s investigation into the Khashoggi killing. Saudi officials reportedly claimed unfounded that the Qatari government paid the investigator.

Callamard’s 100-page report, published in 2019, concluded that there was “credible evidence” that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was behind the killing of Khashoggi, along with other Saudi officials.

The Biden administration has faced widespread criticism to not punish the crown prince for killing Khashoggi. However, it has already issued sanctions and visa restrictions against other Saudi figures linked to the killing.

“This is a critical step because it addresses an unacceptable pattern of targeting, surveillance, harassment, and threatening of dissidents and journalists structurally,” White House Press Secretary Jane Saket said.