Hundreds join worldwide funeral prayers in absentia for slain Saudi journalist
A funeral prayer for slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi was held at Istanbul's Fatih Mosque and Ankara's Kocatepe Mosque in Turkey after Friday prayer.
The Istanbul ceremony was widely attended by activists and political figures calling for unity and justice for the journalist.
Yasin Aktay, an adviser to the Turkish president and close friend of Khashoggi, delivered a speech.
"We will continue to search for the truth. We do not seek revenge in our search but only justice. There is no chance to have a court proceeding that is independent from the crown prince in Saudi Arabia," Aktay said.
"What we heard yesterday from the Saudi public prosecutor is not the justice we were expecting or waiting for, but represents injustice itself," said Ayman Nour, a liberal Egyptian politician.
Tens of thousands of worshippers at Mecca's Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque in Medina, Khashoggi's hometown, joined in prayers for the deceased, though the imams did not name him.
Salah, Khashoggi's son was among those who attended the funeral prayer in absentia (salat al-ghaeb) held in Medina.
Members of the Khashoggi family, meanwhile, will accept condolences at their Jeddah residence until Sunday.
Khashoggi’s body, meanwhile, remains unaccounted for amid reports that it was disposed of by his killers.
At least 600 people performed a funeral prayer in absentia for Khashoggi at Jakarta's Abu Bakar Ash Shiddiq Mosque on Friday.
Sheikh Yusuf Abdul Ghani, a Saudi imam who was on a visit to Indonesia as part of a humanitarian relief organization, led the prayer.
"We will perform funeral prayer for the martyred Jamal Khashoggi. He was killed very unjustly," said Abdul Ghani.
"We pray for him to get ease, for Allah to forgive his sins and make those who killed him pay the price," he added.
Khashoggi, a frequent contributor to The Washington Post, was killed Oct. 2 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
After weeks of denying any involvement in the crime, Saudi Arabia later admitted that Khashoggi had been killed inside the consulate but claimed the Saudi royal family had no prior knowledge of any plot to murder the journalist.
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s chief prosecutor’s office announced it had charged 11 out of 21 suspects in relation to the murder, seeking the death penalty for five of the suspects.
