The Killing of Jamal Khashoggi
Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist and former government insider who had become a critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and was writing for the Washington Post, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 to collect documents for his marriage. He did not come out. A fifteen-member Saudi team had flown in that day and left the same evening. Riyadh's account changed repeatedly — that he had left the building, then that he died in a brawl, then that the killing was premeditated but unauthorised. Turkish intelligence had recordings from inside the consulate and released their contents selectively over weeks, keeping the story alive and maximising the pressure. The UN Special Rapporteur's investigation concluded that this was a premeditated execution for which the Saudi state was responsible, and called for the Crown Prince's role to be investigated. A US intelligence assessment declassified in 2021 concluded he had approved the operation. Saudi Arabia tried eight people and imposed prison sentences; no senior official was held responsible. Western governments imposed limited sanctions on individuals. Arms sales continued. Within four years the diplomatic cost had largely dissipated, and the Crown Prince was received as a head of government by the states that had condemned the killing.
- Year: 2018 CE
- Category: Political Violence
