An unnamed but high-ranking Saudi official warned the U.N. that it would "take care" of its investigator, Agnès Callamard, over her work looking into the disappearance of U.S.-based reporter Jamal Khashoggi. The Guardian:
The alleged threats were made, she said, at a "high-level" meeting between Geneva-based Saudi diplomats, visiting Saudi officials and UN officials in Geneva. During the exchange, Callamard was told, they criticised her work on the Khashoggi murder, registering their anger about her investigation and her conclusions. The Saudi officials also raised baseless allegations that she had received money from Qatar – a frequent refrain against critics of the Saudi government.
Callamard said one of the visiting senior Saudi officials is then alleged to have said that he had received phone calls from individuals who were prepared to "take care of her". When UN officials expressed alarm, other Saudis who were present sought to reassure them that the comment ought not to be taken seriously [but he] repeated the alleged threat to the remaining UN officials in the room.
Khashoggi, a columnist with The Washington Post, was murdered and dismembered while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. Callamard's report concluded that there was credible evidence that the Saudi government was liable for the killing. The Biden administration's own report specified that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered the murder.
