A Turkish court has halted the trial-in-abstentia of 26 Saudi nationals charged with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and has ordered that it be transferred to Saudi Arabia.

The move follows a recommendation from Turkey’s justice minister Bekir Bozdag that followed a request from a prosecutor.

Responding to the decision, Khashoggi's fiancee Hatice Cengiz (pictured) said that she would fight on.

‘Cover-up’ fears

The Washington Post journalist was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. A Saudi court convicted eight unnamed people over the murder in 2019.

The BBC quoted Amnesty International's Turkey official Milena Buyum as describing the decision as "appalling and clearly political".

The human-rights group had warned earlier this week that transferring the case to Saudi Arabia amounted to “knowingly and willingly deciding to allow the Saudi authorities to cover it up”.

Amnesty said that the Saudi system had “repeatedly failed” to cooperate with the Turkish prosecutor.