Year After Death, Jamal Khashoggi Becomes Icon of Freedom

One year later, the world still wants to know the truth about the fate of prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi, whose murder sparked international shock and outrage and put Saudi Arabia under the spotlight.

Despite his demise at the hands of Saudi agents last year, Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi has become an icon for freedom-seekers around the world.

On October 2, 2018, journalist  jamal Kashoggi  entered Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish fiance, Hatice Cengiz. The 59 year old never exited the building.

In the days that followed, Turkish officials said Khashoggi, who wrote columns critical of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince  Mohammad bin Salman  (MBS) in the Washington Post, was killed and dismembered by 15 Saudi intelligence operatives.

According to reports by the UN and other independent organizations, he was murdered and dismembered. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman accepted responsibility for the killing, but denied ordering Khashoggi’s murder.

Riyadh initially denied knowledge of Khashoggi’s fate but later said he was killed in a “rogue operation”.  But the  Mohammad bin Salman, in an interview aired on Monday, denied claims he ordered the killing but said he bears responsibility for it as it happened under his watch.

Born in 1958 in the holy city of Medina, Khashoggi received his elementary and secondary education in Saudi Arabia and obtained a BBA degree from Indiana State University in the U.S. in 1982.

A father of four, Khashoggi worked in several Saudi newspapers. He was one of a few journalists, who made a rare interview with former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

In 2017, he fled Saudi Arabia and went into self-imposed exile and became a vocal critic of the Saudi policies until his death last year.

Audio transcripts of voice recordings from the murder scene were published in various media outlets in Turkey. They include an alleged conversation between Saudi intelligence agent Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb and Dr. Salah Muhammed al Tubaigy, the head of Forensic Evidence at the Saudi General Security Department, in which they were planning what to do with the remains after Tubaigy was done dismembering Khashoggi’s body.

The transcripts also revealed that Khashoggi was told that he was going to be sent back to Riyadh due to an order from the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), and he responded by saying “there is no case against me. My fiancée is outside waiting for me.”

Khashoggi also reportedly urged his killers not to cover his mouth because he had asthma and could suffocate. After, he was injected with a large amount of a drug. Following the sounds of a struggle in the recordings, the team members could be heard saying “Is he asleep yet? He’s lifting his head… keep pushing,” according to the transcripts.