Agnes Callamard, a United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial execution, joined Dutch lawmakers in criticizing Queen Máxima of the Netherlands over a meeting she held with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during the G20 summit in Osaka.
She told the Algemeen Dagblad newspaper that it was “more than disappointing” that Queen Máxima has not raised the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi with the Saudi Crown Prince.
“It’s one thing (for her) to meet this man, it’s something else to remain silent,” Agnes Callamard was quoting as saying. Agnes Callamard wrote a report that found that high-level Saudi officials including Crown Prince Salman should be investigated for the October 2018 killing of Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
“Whoever approved this conversation between Máxima and the Saudi Crown Prince understands nothing of diplomacy and even less about what’s good public relations,” Sjoerd Sjoerdsma of the D-66 Party said in a statement on Twitter.
Queen Máxima was at the G20 in her role as special ambassador to the United Nations for inclusive financing. The G20 will take place in Saudi Arabia next year.
Queen Máxima and the Crown Prince spoke about continuing the Women 20 (W20), which means to improve the inclusive economic growth for women. It stands on three pillars: access to financial services, digital connection and labour participation. Queen Máxima also met with David Malpass – President of the World Bank – and Christine Lagarde – Managing Director and Chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund.
Queen Máxima held a short speech at the “Women Empowerment” event for the G20. For this event, women from all over the world from the public and private sector gather to speak about inclusive economic growth for women worldwide. Ivanka Trump was also there, and she posted on Instagram on how she was looking forward to meeting Queen Máxima. Queen Máxima also shook hands with Ivanka’s father, Donald Trump.
