Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s efforts to distance himself from the gruesome murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul suffered a major setback at the United Nations today when the body’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnes Callamard, said evidence suggests that the crown prince and other senior Saudi officials are liable for the Saudi dissident’s death in October.

“There is credible evidence warranting further investigation of high-level Saudi officials’ individual liability, including the crown prince’s,” Callamard said in a 100-page report that took months to write. “Every expert consulted finds it inconceivable,” she noted, “that an operation on this scale could be implemented without the crown prince being aware, at a minimum, that some sort of mission of a criminal nature directed at Mr. Khashoggi was being launched.”

Why it matters: Callamard’s report confers global legitimacy to Turkey’s claims that the crown prince was directly responsible for Khashoggi’s death, a position upheld by Western intelligence in their own assessments. Ankara gave the United States, the European Union and Callamard secretly taped audio material documenting Khashoggi’s murder. His body was dismembered with a bone saw by a hit team tasked with carrying out his execution. It has yet to be recovered despite Turkish authorities’ dogged efforts to find it.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu hailed today’s news on Twitter, saying Turkey strongly endorsed Callamard’s recommendations for “elucidating Khashoggi’s murder and holding those responsible accountable.”