The killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the consulate of Saudi Arabia may make for a “prime case” to apply Canada’s Magnitsky laws.
Conservative justice critic Tony Clement told reporters on Monday morning that in response to the killing, the government should use the law on the books that gives it the power to sanction and freeze the Canadian assets of foreign individuals who violate human rights.
READ MORE: Saudi foreign minister says Khashoggi death was ‘grave mistake,’ don’t know how he was killed
“I believe that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has already pinpointed some individuals who were at least partially responsible for this atrocity,” Clement said.
“This may be a prime case for applying this law.”
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Last fall, the Liberals passed the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, the so-called Magnitsky law.
Named after Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, who died in a Moscow prison after accusing Kremlin officials of massive tax fraud, the law gives the federal government the authority to sanction individuals who it deems either responsible or complicit in gross violations of human rights by freezing their Canadian assets and barring them from entering Canada.
It was used last fall to sanction 30 people with ties to Russia, 19 officials from Venezuela and three from South Sudan.
READ MORE: Venezuelan president among 52 people sanctioned for human rights violations
But so far, the government has given no indication it plans to levy sanctions against the Saudis for killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an outspoken critic of the kingdom’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
A statement issued by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland over the weekend called for “those responsible” to face justice.
READ MORE: Canada joins chorus of countries questioning Saudi’s Khashoggi explanation
However, she did not point the finger at either bin Salman or any of those close to him who have been accused in recent weeks of ordering the killing.
Khashoggi, a U.S. resident and writer for the Washington Post, went into the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on Oct. 2 to get the paperwork needed to marry his Turkish fiancee.
He never came out.
WATCH BELOW: CCTV footage purports to show Khashoggi and his fiancee going to Saudi consulate
A hit team of Saudis reportedly then used a bone saw to dismember and decapitate Khashoggi.
An investigation being led by both Turkey and Saudi Arabia remains ongoing.
Meanwhile, the Liberals have refused to revoke the export permit allowing General Dynamics to ship armoured vehicles to the Saudis even as German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes headlines for a pledge not to sell any more arms to the kingdom until the question of Khashoggi’s killing is resolved.
Clement also would not say whether he thought the government should revoke the permit for the multi-billion dollar deal.
That deal was inked under the former Conservative government.