Khashoggi’s Legacy: Half a Decade Later, Questions Still Linger
Watan – Five years after Khashoggi’s assassination, The American newspaper, The Washington Post, recently published an editorial marking the fifth anniversary of the assassination of the dissenting Saudi writer, Jamal Khashoggi, who met his tragic end at his country’s consulate in Istanbul.
Five years since the assassination of contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi by an assassination squad dispatched from Saudi Arabia, there remains no closure for us, his family, friends, or those across the Arab world who might have benefited from his call for greater openness and democratic governance.
Closure would mean knowing the truth and holding accountable Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who sent the assassins, and all those complicit in the crime.
On October 2, 2018, Jamal Khashoggi, a 59-year-old U.S. resident, visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He sought paperwork for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz. Tragically, he never left the consulate. Inside, the assassination was made by a Saudi team that took his life and gruesomely dismembered his body. This 15-member squad had close ties to the Crown Prince, including seven from his elite protection detail and officials led by Saud al-Qahtani, a top advisor.
Khashoggi’s remains are still missing, denying his loved ones a proper burial.
U.S. intelligence believes the Crown Prince had a role in Khashoggi’s death. A 2021 report mentioned a pre-planned operation against him but lacked specifics on its timing. This leaves many questions unanswered.
The trials in Saudi Arabia post the murder faced criticism, with Ms. Cengiz calling them a “mockery.” In 2019, five individuals received death sentences, later reduced to 20 years in prison in 2020. Three others got prison terms, while three, including Ahmed al-Assiri, identified by U.S. intelligence as involved, were acquitted. Al-Assiri was investigated but never charged. The Saudi authorities consider the case resolved.
The Crown Prince now refers to the crime as if he were a distant third party responsible for it.
In an interview with Fox News aired on September 20, he described the murder as a “mistake,” adding, “We are also trying to reform the security system to ensure that this kind of mistake does not happen again. We can see in the past five years nothing like this has happened. It’s not part of what Saudi Arabia does.”
Last August, Saudi Arabia sentenced Salma al-Shahab, a mother of two, to 34 years in prison, later reduced to 27 years, for a social media post. She spoke in favor of women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul and other prisoners of conscience.
In the other hand, last July, Mohammed al-Ghamdi, a retired teacher, received a death sentence for critical remarks about the Saudi royal family on social media. He faced charges under the 2017 counterterrorism law, crafted by the Crown Prince, which is emblematic of his dictatorship.
In a meeting with Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on July 15, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden raised the issue of Khashoggi’s murder and received commitments regarding reforms and institutional guarantees to prevent such behavior in the future, according to a White House statement.
After Biden’s visit, Saudi Arabia’s specialized criminal court issued a series of harsh prison sentences against regime critics.
Last month, the court sentenced an 18-year-old high school student named Manal al-Ghafiri to 18 years in prison and an equal travel ban for her tweets supporting prisoners of conscience. At the same time, the Saudi border guard killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers trying to cross the Yemeni-Saudi border. The Crown Prince is now negotiating with the Biden administration on a defense agreement and establishing a civilian nuclear power station on Saudi territory in exchange for full recognition of Israel.
No one should accept the Saudi exoneration. Mohammed bin Salman stole Jamal Khashoggi from his family, friends, and colleagues; escaped accountability for his murder; and continues to torture dissenting Saudis.
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