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On 2 October 2018,
Jamal Khashoggi Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (; ar, جمال أحمد خاشقجي, Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, ; 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi journalist, dissident, author, columnist for ''Middle East Eye'' and ''The Washington Post'', and a ge ...
, a Saudi
dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...
journalist was assassinated by agents of the
Saudi government The politics of Saudi Arabia takes place in the context of a unitary absolute monarchy along Islamic lines, where the King is both the head of state and government. Decisions are, to a large extent, made on the basis of consultation among t ...
at the Saudi
consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth co ...
in
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
, Turkey. Khashoggi was ambushed and strangled by a 15-member squad of Saudi assassins. His body was dismembered and disposed of. Khashoggi's final moments were captured in audio recordings, transcripts of which were subsequently made public. The Saudi government engaged in an extensive effort to
cover up A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to :wikt:conceal, conceal evidence of wrongdoing, error, incompetence, or other embarrassment, embarrassing information. Research has distinguished personal cover-ups (covering up one's own ...
the killing, including destroying evidence. By 16 October, separate investigations by Turkish officials and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' had concluded that the murder was premeditated and that some members of the Saudi hit team were closely connected to
Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
, the
crown prince of Saudi Arabia The crown prince of Saudi Arabia is the second-most important position in Saudi Arabia, second to the King, and is his designated successor. Currently, the Crown Prince assumes power with the approval of the Allegiance Council after he is no ...
. After repeatedly shifting its account of what happened to Khashoggi in the days following the killing, the Saudi government admitted on 25 October that he had been killed in a
premeditated murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...
, but denied that the killing took place on the orders of bin Salman. Bin Salman said he accepted responsibility for the killing "because it happened under my watch" but asserted that he did not order it. By November 2018, the
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
of the United States had concluded that bin Salman had ordered the assassination. In the same month, the United States levelled sanctions against 17 Saudis over the murder, but did not sanction bin Salman himself. U.S. President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
disputed the CIA assessment, expressed support for bin Salman, and stated that the investigation into Khashoggi's death had to continue. The murder prompted intense global scrutiny and criticism of the Saudi government. A report by the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions in June 2019 concluded that Khashoggi's murder was premeditated and called for a criminal investigation by the UN and, because Khashoggi was a resident of the United States, the US
Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...
. Saudi prosecutors rejected the findings of the UN investigation and asserted that the killing was not premeditated. In January 2019, trials began in Saudi Arabia against 11 Saudis accused of involvement in Khashoggi's murder. In December 2019, following secretive proceedings, three defendants were acquitted; five were sentenced to
death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
; and three others were sentenced to prison. Two of the acquitted defendants,
Saud al-Qahtani Saud bin Abdullah al-Qahtani (born July 7, 1978) is a Saudi Arabian consultant and former royal court advisor. Prior to his dismissal in late 2018, he worked as an advisor to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. ...
and Ahmed al-Asiri, were high-level Saudi security officials. The five men sentenced to death were low-level participants and were legally pardoned in May 2020 by Khashoggi's children. The results of the trial were criticized by the international community. On 18 November 2022, the
Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...
provided a legal opinion that Saudi crown prince
Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
holds
immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity de ...
over his alleged role in the assassination of Khashoggi. The federal judge deciding a lawsuit had invited the administration's opinion. The Biden administration said that the
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...
was offering this opinion "under longstanding and well-established principles of customary international law" unrelated to "the merits of the case". Khashoggi's former fiancee Hatice Cengiz condemned the opinion, stating her feelings that "Jamal died again today" and that the U.S. government was choosing "money" over "justice".
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...
called the opinion a "deep betrayal" that "suggests shady deals made throughout." On 6 December, the judge dismissed the lawsuit.


Jamal Khashoggi

Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist, author, and a former general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel. He also served as editor for the Saudi newspaper '' Al Watan'', turning it into a platform for Saudi progressives. Khashoggi fled the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Arab ...
(KSA) in June 2017 and went into self-imposed exile in the US. He began to contribute columns to the global opinions section of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' in September 2017. His work was often critical of the Saudi government and the
Saudi royal family The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It is composed of the descendants of Muhammad bin Saud, founder of the Emirate of Diriyah, known as the First Saudi state (1727–1818), ...
, especially Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
, and he advocated for reform in the country. He opposed the
Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen Saudi may refer to: * Saudi Arabia * Saudis, people from Saudi Arabia * Saudi culture, the culture of Saudi Arabia * House of Saud The House of Saud ( ar, آل سُعُود, ʾĀl Suʿūd ) is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. It i ...
. After Khashoggi started writing for ''The Washington Post'', he was harassed via Twitter from pro-regime trolls and bot accounts. It is believed that his harassment was instigated by Saudi royal adviser
Saud al-Qahtani Saud bin Abdullah al-Qahtani (born July 7, 1978) is a Saudi Arabian consultant and former royal court advisor. Prior to his dismissal in late 2018, he worked as an advisor to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. ...
, who had been tasked by Prince bin Salman with implementing a zero-tolerance crackdown on dissent on social media. Qahtani was later implicated in Khashoggi's murder. Just before he was murdered, Khashoggi launched several projects to consolidate opposition to the Saudi regime, counter regime propaganda, and press for reform. One major collaborator was Saudi dissident blogger Omar Abdulaziz, one of the most visible public critics of the Saudi regime abroad. In late September 2018, Khashoggi met with friends in London to discuss his various plans. Khashoggi wrote in his last column, posthumously published, that "what the Arab world needs most is
free expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...
".


Pegasus spyware phone hack

In summer 2018, Abdulaziz's
cellphone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
was infected with a
surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...
tool. This was first revealed on 1 October 2018 in a detailed forensic report by
Citizen Lab The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada. It was founded by Ronald Deibert in 2001. The laboratory studies information controls that impact the openness ...
, a
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
project that investigates digital espionage against
civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.NSO Group NSO Group Technologies (NSO standing for Niv, Shalev and Omri, the names of the company's founders) is an Israeli cyber-intelligence firm primarily known for its proprietary spyware Pegasus, which is capable of remote zero-click surveillance o ...
's Pegasus spyware and attributed this infection to an operator linked to "Saudi Arabia's government and security services". NSO's Pegasus, of which KSA has emerged as one of its biggest operators, is one of the most advanced spyware tools available. It is designed to infect cell phones without being detected. Among other known cases, KSA is believed to have used NSO software to target London-based Saudi dissident Yahya Assiri, a former Royal Saudi Air Force officer and founder the human rights organisation
ALQST ALQST or Al Qst ( ar, منظمة القسط) is a human rights organisation that documents and promotes human rights in Saudi Arabia, with a team in Saudi Arabia that researches cases and a team in London that publishes reports and news. Aims an ...
and an
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and s ...
researcher. Through their sophisticated spyware attack on Abdulaziz's phone, the Saudi regime would have had a direct line into Khashoggi's private thoughts, and access to hours of conversations between the two men. Abdulaziz recalled: "Jamal was very polite in public, but in private, he spoke more freely he was very very critical of the crown prince." On 21 September, eleven days before Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate, he made a declaration of support for the Bees Movement. Using the Bee Army's first
hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
"what do you know about bees" he tweeted "They love their home country and defend it with truth and rights". On 9 October, one week after his disappearance, ''The Washington Post'' published an article in which Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi's fiancé, claimed that he had applied for U.S. citizenship. On 19 October, the
Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Wash ...
issued a statement saying that they had offered him a
fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...
ship at the
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Wash ...
(or Wilson Center), located in Washington, D.C. On 22 October, Marc Owen Jones, an assistant professor at
Hamad Bin Khalifa University Hamad Bin Khalifa University, ( ar, جامعة حمد بن خليفة) is a public university located within Education City in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a member of Qatar Foundation for Education, Scien ...
in Doha who researched Arab propaganda and has monitored Saudi Twitter bots for two years, said he has seen a massive surge in pro-regime Twitter activity, and in the creation of troll accounts, since Khashoggi went missing: "There was such a huge spike in October in bot accounts and the use of the hashtags praising the crown prince, it's absurd". After Khashoggi's assassination, the Saudi cyber-operations were the focus of global scrutiny. The
Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-i ...
started an investigation in to those malicious cyberattacks. In December 2018 Omar Abdulaziz granted CNN access to his text messages with Jamal Khashoggi, where the two discussed their sharp criticism and political opposition to Mohammed bin Salman. Abdulaziz filed a lawsuit against an Israeli company, NSO Group Technologies, that allowed his smartphone to be taken over and his communications to be spied on by the Saudi regime.


U.S. intelligence reports

''The Washington Post'' reported on 10 October 2018 that
U.S. intelligence The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
intercepted communications of Saudi officials discussing a plan ordered by the Crown Prince Bin Salman, to capture Khashoggi from his home in Virginia. The intercepted communications were regarded as significant because Khashoggi had bought a home in
McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. McLean is home to many diplomats, military, members of Congress, and high-ranking government officials partially due to its prox ...
, where he lived after fleeing the KSA. Khashoggi had obtained an
O visa An O visa is a classification of non-immigrant temporary worker visa granted by the United States to an alien "who possesses extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics, or who has a demonstrated record of extra ...
also known as the "genius" visa, that offers individuals of "extraordinary ability and achievement" in the sciences, arts, education, and other fields and are recognized internationally he had applied for permanent residency status, and three of his children were US citizens. As a legal resident of the United States Khashoggi was entitled to protection. Under a directive adopted in 2015, the US intelligence community has a "duty to warn" people including those who are not US citizens who are at risk of being kidnapped or killed. This directive was a central aspect of the conversation about the US's response to Khashoggi's disappearance. According to the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
(NSA) officials, the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
was warned of this threat through official intelligence channels. The Office of the
Director of National Intelligence The director of national intelligence (DNI) is a senior, cabinet-level United States government official, required by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 to serve as executive head of the United States Intelligence Co ...
(DNI) of
Dan Coats Daniel Ray Coats (born May 16, 1943) is an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat. From 2017 to 2019, he served as the Director of National Intelligence in the Trump administration. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a ...
declined to comment on why Khashoggi was not warned. 55 members of Congress demanded in a letter clarity from DNI Dan Coats on what the intelligence community knew about the risk Khashoggi faced before his disappearance and whether American officials attempted to notify him that his life was in danger. In the letter, they sought insight into everything the NSA knows about phone calls and emails from Saudi officials on the Khashoggi case. The Knight First Amendment Institute at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
filed a lawsuit against five US intelligence services "seeking immediate release of records concerning U.S. intelligence agencies' compliance or non-compliance with their 'duty to warn' reporter Jamal Khashoggi of threats to his life or liberty". The
Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of jou ...
joined the legal effort. On 16 November,
Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
members who internally analyzed multiple sources of intelligence concluded that Mohammed bin Salman ordered Khashoggi's assassination. On 20 November, US President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
disputed the CIA assessment and stated that the investigation into Khashoggi's death had to continue. The 2020 National Defense Authorization Act required the U.S. intelligence community to share the report on who was responsible for Khashoggi's murder, but the Trump administration refused to release the report. The Director of National Intelligence,
Avril Haines Avril Danica Haines (born August 27, 1969) is an American lawyer and senior government official who serves as the director of national intelligence in the Biden administration. She is the first woman to serve in this role. Haines previously se ...
, declassified a four-page report on 25 February 2021 and released it the next day, as she had promised to do even before the
Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the 46th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2021. Biden, a Democrat from Delaware who previously served as vice president under Barack Obama, took office following his victory ...
began. As expected, the report blamed Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder, which had been the ultimate conclusion of the CIA. Shortly after publication of the report it was replaced by an updated version, from which three names were removed. Following the report, the US announced sanctions on several Saudis involved in the killing, but not on Mohammed bin Salman. Some exiled Saudi dissidents said "they have been put in greater danger" due to the lack of sanctions against Mohammed bin Salman.


Disappearance

Over the year 2017, the House of Saud appealed to Khashoggi to return to Riyadh and resume his services as a media advisor to the royal court. But he declined in fear that it was a ruse and that upon returning he would be imprisoned or worse. Khashoggi met with crown prince Mohammed's brother Prince Khalid at the Saudi embassy in Washington, in "early 2018 or late 2017." In September 2018 Khashoggi visited the Washington embassy again, to retrieve paperwork for his pending marriage to his Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz. He tried to complete everything in the U.S. but was instead lured to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey, where his fiancée lived. Khashoggi's first visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul was on 28 September 2018 where he showed up unannounced. Having divorced his wife, who had remained in Saudi Arabia, he went to the consulate to obtain a document certifying that he was no longer married so he could marry his Turkish fiancée. Before that visit he "sought assurances about his safety from friends in the US" and instructed his fiancée to contact Turkish authorities if he failed to emerge. He received a warm welcome from officials, and was told to return to the consulate on 2 October. "He was very pleased with their nice treatment and hospitality", she later said. On 29 September Khashoggi traveled to London and spoke at a conference. On 1 October Khashoggi returned to Istanbul, and he told a friend that he was worried about being kidnapped and sent back to KSA. Meanwhile, at around 16:30, a three-person Saudi team arrived in Istanbul on a scheduled flight, checked in to their hotels then visited the consulate, according to President Erdogan, president of Turkey. Another group of officials from the consulate traveled to a forest in Istanbul's outskirts and the nearby city of Yalova on a "reconnaissance" trip. Erdogan said a "road map" to kill Khashoggi was devised in Saudi Arabia during this time. In the night of 2 October, a 15-member group arrived from Riyadh on two private Gulfstream jets. On 2 October 2018 CCTV showed the suspected agents entering the consulate around noon. Khashoggi arrived about an hour later, accompanied by his fiancée Cengiz, whom he entrusted with two
cell phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive telephone call, calls over a radio freq ...
s while she waited outside for him. He entered the consulate, through main entrance, at around 1 pm. As he had not come out by 4 pm, even though the working hours of the consulate were until 3:30 pm, Cengiz contacted the authorities, phoning Khashoggi's friend,
Yasin Aktay Yasin Aktay (born 1966 in Siirt, Turkey) is a deputy chairman of the AK Party and head of the Turkish Group of Inter-Parliamentarian Union. He is also known as one of the chief aides to the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Before assumin ...
, an adviser to President Erdogan, reported him missing and the police then started an investigation. The Saudi government said that he had left the consulate via a back entrance. The Turkish government first said that he was still inside, and his fiancée and friends said that he was missing. Turkish authorities have claimed that security camera footage of the day of the incident was removed from the consulate and that Turkish consulate staff were abruptly told to take a holiday on the day Khashoggi disappeared while inside the building.
Turkish police The General Directorate of Security ( tr, Emniyet Genel Müdürlüğü) or Turkish Police Service ( tr, Türk Polis Teşkilatı) is the national civilian police force responsible for law enforcement of the Republic of Turkey, which is affiliated w ...
investigators told the media that the recordings from the security cameras did not show any evidence of Khashoggi leaving the consulate. A security camera was located outside the consulate's front which showed him entering but not leaving, while another camera installed at a preschool opposite the rear entrance of the consulate also did not show him leaving. The disappearance presented Turkish officials with a sharp diplomatic challenge. Jamal Elshayyal reported Turkish authorities were trying to walk a fine line so as not to damage the Turkish-Saudi relationship: "There is an attempt by the Turkish government to try to find a way out of this whereby there isn't a full collapse of diplomatic relations, at least a temporary freeze between Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Because, if indeed, Turkish authorities can prove unequivocally that Saudi agents essentially murdered a journalist inside the consulate in Istanbul, it would require some sort of strong reaction." Analysts have suggested that Khashoggi may have been considered especially dangerous by the Saudi leadership not because he was a long-time dissident, but rather, a pillar of the Saudi establishment who had been close to its ruling circles for decades, had worked as an editor at Saudi news outlets and had been an adviser to a former Saudi intelligence chief Turki bin Faisal Al Saud.


Assassination

According to numerous anonymous police sources, the Turkish police believe that Khashoggi was tortured and killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul by a 15-member team brought in from Saudi Arabia for the operation. One such source claimed the dead body was dismembered, and that the entire assassination had been recorded by the killers on a videotape taken out of Turkey afterwards. ''
Middle East Eye Middle East Eye (MEE) is a London-based news website covering events in the Middle East and North Africa. MEE describes itself as an "independently funded online news organization that was founded in April 2014." MEE seeks to be the primary porta ...
'' cited an anonymous Saudi who said the
Tiger Squad The Tiger Squad ( ar, فرقة النمر, '), officially called the Rapid Intervention Force (Arabic: قوة التدخل السريع, ''Quat al-Tadakhul al-Sarie''), is a '' de jure'' protective security unit under the Crown Prince of Saudi A ...
brought Khashoggi's fingers to Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh as other evidence that the mission was successful. On 7 October, Turkish officials pledged to release evidence showing that Khashoggi was killed. Aktay initially said he believed Khashoggi had been killed in the consulate, but on 10 October he claimed that "the Saudi state is not blamed here", something that a journalist for ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' saw as Turkey trying not to harm lucrative trade ties and a delicate regional relationship with Saudi Arabia. Turkey then claimed to have audio and video evidence of the killing occurring inside the consulate. U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States had asked Turkey for the recordings. According to "people familiar with the matter", the audio was shared with Central Intelligence Agency agents; a CIA spokeswoman declined to comment. CNN reported on 15 October that Saudi Arabia was about to admit to the killing, but would claim that it was an interrogation that went wrong. This claim drew criticism from some, considering that Khashoggi was reportedly dismembered and that his killing was allegedly premeditated, and the circumstances, including the arrival and departure of a team of 15, included forensic specialists presumed to have been present to hide evidence of the crime, on the same day. Those men had flown on two private jets owned by Sky Prime Aviation, a company controlled by Mohammed bin Salman since its transfer to Saudi Arabia's
Public Investment Fund The Public Investment Fund (PIF; ar, links=no, صندوق الإستثمارات العامة) is the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. It is among the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world with total estimated assets of $620 billi ...
the previous year. The next day, ''Middle East Eye'' reported that, according to an anonymous Turkish source, the killing took about seven minutes and forensic specialist
Salah Muhammed al-Tubaigy Salah Mohammed Abdah Tubaigy ( ar, صلاح الطبيقي, born 20 August 1971), also spelled Tubaiqi, is a Saudi forensic doctor. He was the head of the Saudi Scientific Council of Forensics and a colonel in the armed forces of Saudi Arabia. I ...
, who had brought along a
bone saw A bone cutter is a surgical instrument used to cut or remove bones. In addition to surgery, they are also used in forensics, torture, and dismemberment. Types of medical bone cutters include: * Unpowered – Unpowered bone cutting implements ...
, cut Khashoggi's body into pieces, while Khashoggi was still alive, as he and his colleagues listened to music. The source further claimed that "Khashoggi was dragged from consul general Mohammad al-Otaibi's office at the Saudi consulate ... Tubaigy began to cut Khashoggi's body up on a table in the study while he was still alive," and "There was no attempt to interrogate him. They had come to kill him." Reuters reported that al-Otaibi left Istanbul for Riyadh on 16 October. His departure came hours before his home was expected to be searched in relation to the journalist's disappearance. ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' published reports from anonymous sources that Khashoggi was tortured in front of top Saudi diplomat Mohammad al-Otaibi, Saudi Arabia's consul general. The Turkish pro-government newspaper ''
Daily Sabah The ''Daily Sabah'' (lit. "Daily Morning") is a Turkish pro-government daily, published in Turkey. Available in English, Arabic, and owned by Turkuvaz Media Group, ''Daily Sabah'' published its first issue on 24 February 2014. The editor-in-chief ...
'' reported on 18 October that neighbours to the consul's residence had observed an unusual barbecue party, which the paper suggested might have been to mask the smell from the incineration of the dismembered corpse: "We have been living here for twelve years but I have never seen them having a barbecue party. That day, they had a barbecue party in the garden." On 20 October, the Saudi Foreign Ministry reported that a preliminary investigation showed that Khashoggi had died at the consulate while engaged in a fight, the first Saudi acknowledgement of Khashoggi's death. It was also announced that
Saud al-Qahtani Saud bin Abdullah al-Qahtani (born July 7, 1978) is a Saudi Arabian consultant and former royal court advisor. Prior to his dismissal in late 2018, he worked as an advisor to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. ...
and Ahmad Asiri had been fired by the Saudi royal court for involvement in Khashoggi's killing. The following day, an anonymous Saudi official said Khashoggi had been threatened with drugging and kidnapping by Maher Mutreb, had resisted and was restrained with a chokehold, which killed him. On 22 October,
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was est ...
cited a Turkish intelligence source and a high-ranking Arab with access to intelligence and links to members of Saudi's royal court and reported that Saud al-Qahtani, the then-top aide for Mohammed bin Salman, had made a
Skype Skype () is a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for VoIP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also has instant messaging, file transfer, debi ...
call to the consulate while Khashoggi was held in the room. Qahtani reportedly insulted Khashoggi, who responded in kind. According to the Turkish source, Qahtani then asked the team to kill Khashoggi. Qahtani instructed: "Bring me the head of the dog". According to both sources, the audio of the Skype call was given to Erdogan. According to Nazif Karaman of the ''Daily Sabah'', the audio recording from inside the consulate revealed that Khashoggi's last words were: "I'm suffocating... take this bag off my head, I'm claustrophobic." On 10 December, the details of the transcript of the audio were described to CNN by an anonymous source. On 16 November, a ''
Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...
'' columnist reported that Turkey has more evidence, including a second audio recording from the consulate, where the Saudi team reviews the plans on how to execute Khashoggi. He also reported that: "Turkish officials also did not confirm
audi prosecutor's claim Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The o ...
that Khashoggi was killed after they gave him a fatal dose of drug. They say that he was strangulated with a rope or something like a plastic bag."


Investigation

Hatice Cengiz begged the US government to take action in helping to find her fiancé. In her 9 October op-ed in ''The Washington Post'', Cengiz wrote, "At this time, I implore President Trump and
first lady Melania Trump Melania Trump ( ; born Melanija Knavs , Germanized as Melania Knauss ; born April 26, 1970) is a Slovene-American former model and businesswoman who served as First Lady of the United States from 2017 to 2021 as the wife of 45th president Do ...
to help shed light on Jamal's disappearance. I also urge Saudi Arabia, especially King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to show the same level of sensitivity and release
CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly ...
footage from the consulate." ''
Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...
'' reported on 11 October that Turkish officials were investigating whether Khashoggi's
Apple Watch Apple Watch is a line of smartwatches produced by Apple Inc. It incorporates fitness tracking, health-oriented capabilities, and wireless telecommunication, and integrates with iOS and other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch was rel ...
would reveal clues as to what happened to him inside the Saudi consulate, examining whether data from the smartwatch could have been transmitted to the
cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...
, or his personal phone, which was with Cengiz. On the evening of 14 October, President Erdoğan and King Salman announced that a deal had been made for a "jointing working group" to examine the case. On 15 October the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced that an "inspection" of the consulate, by both Turkish and Saudi officials, would take place that afternoon. According to an anonymous source from the Attorney General's office, Turkish officials found evidence of "tampering" during the inspection, and evidence that supports the belief Khashoggi was killed. President Erdoğan said that "investigation is looking into many things such as toxic materials and those materials being removed by painting them over". According to anonymous sources, Turkish police have expanded the search, as Khashoggi's body may have been disposed of in nearby
Belgrad Forest Belgrad Forest ( tr, Belgrad Ormanı) is a mixed deciduous forest lying adjacent to Istanbul, Turkey. It is named after the village next to the forest, settled by thousands of Serbs who were deported to the capital Constantinople from the city of ...
or on farmland in
Yalova Province Yalova Province ( tr, ) is a province in northwestern Turkey, on the eastern coast of the Sea of Marmara. Its adjacent provinces are Bursa to the south and Kocaeli to the east. The population of the Yalova Province was 203,741 in 2010. Prior ...
, as indicated by the movement of the Saudi vehicles, and
DNA tests Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
of samples from the Saudi consulate and the consul's residence are being conducted; ''Al Jazeera'' reported that according to anonymous sources, fingerprints of one of the alleged perpetrators, Salah Muhammad al-Tubaigy, were found in the consulate.


Confirmation of death

On 20 October, the Saudi Foreign Ministry reported that a preliminary investigation showed that Khashoggi had died at the consulate while engaged in a fight, the first Saudi acknowledgement of Khashoggi's death. On 22 October, six US and Western officials stated they believed that the crown prince
Mohammad bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
, because of his role overseeing the Saudi security apparatus, was ultimately responsible for Khashoggi's disappearance, and the
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community. Beginning February 2017, the ...
(CIA), Gina Haspel, departed for Turkey to work on the investigation "amid a growing international uproar over Saudi's explanation of the killing". The
Governor of İstanbul The Governor of Istanbul ( Turkish: ''İstanbul Valiliği'') is the civil service state official responsible for both national government and state affairs in the Province of Istanbul. Similar to the Governors of the 80 other Provinces of Turkey ...
's office said that Khashoggi's fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, had been given 24-hour
police protection The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...
. Also on 22 October, CNN aired CCTV law enforcement footage from the Turkish authorities, showing the Saudi agent Mustafa al-Madani, a member of the 15-man team, leaving the consulate by the back door. He was dressed up in Khashoggi's clothes, except for the shoes. Madani had also put on a fake beard that resembled Khashoggi's facial hair, his glasses and his Apple Watch. Madani, who was of similar age, height, and build to Khashoggi, left the consulate from its back door. He was later seen at Istanbul's Blue Mosque, where he went to a public bathroom and changed back to his own clothes and discarded Khashoggi's clothes. Later he was seen dining with another Saudi agent, and the footage shows him smiling and laughing. An anonymous Turkish official believes that Madani was brought to Istanbul to act as a
body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stun ...
and that "You don't need a body double for a rendition or an interrogation. Our assessment has not changed since October 6. This was a premeditated murder, and the body was moved out of the consulate." The use of the body double might have been an attempt to lend credence to the Saudi government's first version of events: that Khashoggi walked out through the back not long after he arrived. But "it was a flawed body double, so it never became an official part of the Saudi government's narrative", a Turkish diplomat told ''The Washington Post''. The body double footage bolstered Turkish claims that the Saudis always intended either to kill Khashoggi or move him back to Saudi Arabia.
Ömer Çelik Ömer Çelik (born 15 June 1968) is a Turkish journalist and politician. Between 24 January 2013 and 28 August 2015 he served as Minister of Culture and Tourism. He served as the Minister of European Union Affairs and as the Chief Negotiator f ...
, a spokesman for Turkey's ruling AKP, stated: "We are facing a situation that has been monstrously planned and later tried to be covered up. It is a complicated murder." Saudi Arabia has vowed it will conduct a thorough criminal investigation and deliver justice for Khashoggi, Turkish investigators have been faced with several delays from their Saudi counterparts. On 22 October, BBC reported that Turkish police had found a car "belonging to the consulate" abandoned in an underground car park in Istanbul. Permission was sought from the Saudi diplomats to search the car. Turkish media published a video from 3 October (the day after the disappearance) that apparently showed the staff of the consulate burning documents.


Search of Saudi consul's residence

On Sunday 7 October, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Saudi Arabian Ambassador Waleed A. M. Elkhereiji to demand for the second time permission to search the consulate building. Saudi officials continued to refuse that Turkish police could search the well in the Saudi consul's garden, but granted permission on 24 October (22 days after the assassination). Turkish newspaper ''Hürriyet'' reported on 26 October that police had found no DNA traces of Khashoggi in water samples taken from the well. Calling for an international investigation, at the
Headquarters of the United Nations zh, 联合国总部大楼french: Siège des Nations uniesrussian: Штаб-квартира Организации Объединённых Наций es, Sede de las Naciones Unidas , image = Midtown Manhattan Skyline 004.jpg , im ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on 25 October, Agnès Callamard, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, explained the Saudi officials implicated in the death of Khashoggi "are high enough to represent the state". "Even Saudi Arabia has admitted that the crime was premeditated ... From where I sit, this bears all the hallmarks of extrajudicial executions. Until I am proven otherwise I must assume that this was the case. It is up to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to prove that it was not."


Saudi public prosecutor visits Turkey

Saudi public prosecutor Saud al-Mojeb arrived in Istanbul on 28 October, days after he contradicted weeks of official Saudi statements by saying that Khashoggi's murder was premeditated. His trip came amid Turkish suggestions that the Saudis were not cooperating and had attempted to tamper with evidence. Mojeb held talks on 29 October with Istanbul's chief prosecutor Irfan Fidan at the Çağlayan courthouse. Saudi officials asked the Turkish prosecutor to hand over all of their evidence, including video footage. Turkish investigators offered a 150-page dossier that summarized their findings, but refused to hand over the complete investigative file. Although Saudi foreign minister
Adel al-Jubeir Adel Al-Jubeir ( ar, عادل بن أحمد الجبير; born 1 February 1962) is a Saudi diplomat who is the former Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs and the current Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. He is the second person not belon ...
had stated on 27 October that the suspects would be tried on Saudi soil, Turkish officials presented an extradition request for the 18 suspects to be brought to Turkey for trial. They also pressed for information about Khashoggi's body, its disposal, and the progress of the Saudi investigation. The tense meeting only lasted 75 minutes. Mojeb held a second round of talks with Fidan on 30 October, before inspecting the Saudi consulate in the
Levent Levent is a neighbourhood and one of the main business districts of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European side of the city. It is a part of the municipality of Beşiktaş and is situated to the north of the Golden Horn, at the western s ...
neighbourhood, where he left after spending a little over an hour. According to a source at the prosecutor's office, Fidan asked Mojeb to conduct another joint search at the consul-general's residence, because when Turkish investigators first entered the building in mid-October they were not allowed to search three locked rooms and were also not allowed to search a -deep well. The Saudis did not let firefighters descend into the well, and the search ended with police only able to obtain some water samples. The following day, President Erdoğan repeated the demand for the suspects to be extradited to Turkey for trial. He accused the Saudi prosecutor of refusing to cooperate during his visit. A source reported that Mojeb provided no information to Turkish investigators, but wanted to take Khashoggi's mobile phones, which had been left outside the consulate with Khashoggi's fiancée.


Body disposal and alleged evidence tampering

On 31 October a senior Turkish official told ''The Washington Post'' that Turkish authorities were investigating the theory that Khashoggi's body was destroyed in acid on the grounds of the consulate or at the nearby residence of the Saudi consul general. The "biological evidence" discovered in the consulate garden supported the theory. Echoing the claim, Yasin Aktay, an adviser to Erdoğan in his ruling
AK Party The Justice and Development Party ( tr, Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, ; AKP), abbreviated officially AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democrat. It is one of the two major parties of contemporar ...
and a friend of Khashoggi, hinted in an article in the Turkish newspaper ''Hürriyet'', published on 2 November, that the body was destroyed by dismembering and dissolving in acid: "We now see that it wasn't just cut up, they got rid of the body by dissolving it". On 4 March 2019, Al Jazeera Arabic released a documentary on the investigation of Khashoggi's murder and the subsequent coverup. In its coverage, the network states that the body was likely disposed of by being burnt in an oven at the Saudi consulate general's residence. An interview with the oven's builder revealed that it was designed to be "deep", and capable of withstanding temperatures over . The burning took three days and happened in parts. Afterwards, a large quantity of
barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke ...
meat was prepared to cover the evidence of cremation. In an op-ed in ''The Washington Post'', Erdoğan described the murder as "inexplicable" and as a "clear violation and a blatant abuse of the
Vienna Convention on Consular Relations en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
", arguing that not punishing the perpetrators "could set a very dangerous precedent." He criticised Saudi inaction against the consul general Mohammad al-Otaibi, who had misled the media and had fled the country shortly afterwards. He warned that no-one should dare commit "such acts on the soil of a
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...
ally again" and wrote: "As responsible members of the international community, we must reveal the identities of the puppet masters behind Khashoggi's killing and discover those in whom Saudi officials still trying to cover up the murder have placed their trust... We know that the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levels of the Saudi government." He urged the international community to uncover the whole truth. On 5 November, ''Daily Sabah'' quoted a Turkish official who said that an 11-member team, including chemist Ahmad Abdulaziz Aljanobi and toxicology expert Khaled Yahya al-Zahrani, had been sent by Saudi Arabia to Istanbul on 11 October to destroy the evidence. The official suggested that this cover-up attempt indicated that Saudi officials were aware of the crime. The Saudi team had visited the consulate every day between 11 and 17 October; Turkish officials were not permitted to search the consulate until 15 October.


Audio tapes

During a televised speech on 10 November, Erdoğan acknowledged the existence of multiple audio recordings relating to the killing, stating that Turkey had provided them to Saudi Arabia, the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. These recordings document Khashoggi's torture and death, as well as conversations from before the incident, which led Turkey to conclude early on that the killing was premeditated. Saudi royal advisor Saud al-Qahtani was reported as having a major role throughout the recordings. Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...
confirmed that Turkey had shared audio of the killing with world governments, including Canada. The German government confirmed it had received information from the Turkish authorities, but declined to elaborate. In contrast, French Foreign Minister
Jean-Yves Le Drian Jean-Yves Le Drian (; born 30 June 1947) is a French politician who served as Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs in the governments of Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex (2017–2022) and as Minister of Defence under Presi ...
denied receiving the audio. British Foreign Secretary
Jeremy Hunt Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (born 1 November 1966) is a British politician who has served as Chancellor of the Exchequer since 14 October 2022. He previously served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport ...
paid an official visit to KSA and called for its cooperation with a "credible" investigation into Khashoggi's killing. While attending World War I centennial commemorations in France, Erdoğan and President Trump discussed how to respond to the killing, and later met with Secretary-General
António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Soci ...
of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
. President Trump and French President
Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...
agreed that more details were needed from KSA on Khashoggi's murder. Accordingly, they also agreed that the case should not cause further destabilization in the Middle East; and the fallout from the Khashoggi affair could create a way forward to find a resolution to the ongoing War in Yemen.


Charges

On 15 November 2018, the Saudi Prosecutor's Office stated that 11 Saudi nationals had been indicted and charged with murdering Khashoggi and that five of the individuals who were indicted would face the death penalty since it had been determined they were directly involved in "ordering and executing the crime". Prosecutors alleged that shortly after Khashoggi entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul he was bound and then injected with an overdose of a
sedative A sedative or tranquilliser is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement. They are CNS depressants and interact with brain activity causing its deceleration. Various kinds of sedatives can be distinguished, but ...
that resulted in his death. The prosecutors also alleged that his body had been dismembered and removed from the consulate by five of those charged in the killing and given to a local collaborator for disposal. Saudi officials continued to deny that the Saudi Royal Family was involved in, ordered, or sanctioned the killing. On 16 November 2018, several news organizations including ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' and ''The Washington Post'' reported that the CIA was unequivocal in assessing with "high confidence" that the crown prince Mohammad bin Salman ordered Khashoggi's assassination. The agency examined multiple sources of intelligence, including an
intercepted In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...
phone call that the crown prince's brother Khalid bin Salman the then Saudi ambassador to the United States had with Khashoggi. A conclusion that contradicted previous Saudi government claims that the crown prince was not involved. A CIA spokesman and both the White House and the
US State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
declined to comment. The Saudis issued a denial. On 20 November 2018, Trump issued the statement "On Standing with Saudi Arabia" and without citing further evidence he denied the CIA's conclusion: "Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event maybe he did and maybe he didn't!" In a series of interviews President Trump said the crown prince denies his involvement "vehemently" and the CIA only has "feelings" and there is "no smoking gun" in the death. The next day ''Hürriyet'' columnist
Abdulkadir Selvi Abdulkadir Selvi (born 1964) is a Turkish columnist and journalist, currently working at ''Hürriyet''. He joined ''Yeni Şafak'' newspaper in 2001 and worked there for 15 years. Biography Abdulkadir Selvi was born in Sivas, Turkey, in 1964. ...
wrote that the "CIA holds 'smoking gun phone call' of Saudi Crown Prince on Khashoggi murder", and that Gina Haspel, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, has possession of an intercepted phone call in which crown prince Mohammad gives an order to his brother Khalid "to silence Jamal Khashoggi as soon as possible". "The subsequent murder is the ultimate confirmation of this instruction." Citing the leaked CIA assessment, ''The Wall Street Journal'' reported that Mohammed bin Salman sent at least 11 text messages in the hours before and after the assassination on 2 October to his closest adviser Saud al-Qahtani who supervised the 15-man kill-team that was sent to Istanbul, and that Qahtani was in direct communication with the team's leader in Istanbul. The assessment also noted that Mohammed bin Salman had told his agents back in August 2017 that Khashoggi could be lured to a third country, if he could not be persuaded to return to the KSA. However, the message-exchange element of the report was contested by Saudi Arabia based on a confidential Saudi-commissioned investigation conducted by the private security firm
Kroll Kroll is a German language, German, Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon, and Scottish people, Scottish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Colin Kroll (1983/4–2018), American businessman; co-founder of Vine and HQ Trivia * Eric Kroll (bo ...
. The investigation, which focused on a forensic examination of a cellphone belonging to Saud al-Qahtani, found that none of the messages exchanged on the day of the murder between Prince Mohammed and Mr. Qahtani concerned the murder. In September 2019, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman appeared in an interview with the CBS "''
60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...
''" program that was aired on 29 September 2019, denying that he had ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi or that he had prior knowledge about it but said that he bears all responsibility for the killing of Jamal Khashoggi because the incident took place under his watch. He also said that "once charges are proven against someone, regardless of their rank, it will be taken to court, no exception made." On 25 March 2020, 20 Saudi nationals were reportedly indicted by Turkish prosecutors over the killing of Khashoggi. According to the prosecutor's office in Istanbul, a royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani, and Saudi's former deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri were charged with inciting the murder; both had been investigated by Saudis in 2019 but acquitted or not charged. The suspects are believed to have fled Turkey, while Saudi Arabia has denied the Turkish claims for all the accused to be taken back to Turkey in order to answer for their crimes. According to Aljazeera, the charges were filed based on analysis of Khashoggi's accessories, witness testimonies, analysis of the suspects' phone records, including information on their whereabouts within and outside Turkey, as well as the consulate. Arrest warrants have been given out by the Turkish prosecutor for the accused. On 1 July 2020, a Turkish court announced to open the
trial in absentia Trial in absentia is a criminal proceeding in a court of law in which the person who is subject to it is not physically present at those proceedings. is Latin for "in (the) absence". Its meaning varies by jurisdiction and legal system. In comm ...
of the 20 indicted Saudi nationals. On 6 July 2020, the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
imposed sanctions on the 20 Saudi Arabian nationals. On 7 April 2022, a Turkish court ordered the transfer of the trial to Saudi Arabia, despite the fact that many of the suspects had already been acquitted in Saudi Arabia. The decision was criticized by human rights advocates and lawyers involved in the case.


Alleged perpetrators

Al-Waqt news quoted informed sources as saying that Mohammad bin Salman had assigned Ahmad Asiri, the deputy head of the Saudi intelligence agency Riasat Al-Mukhabarat Al-A'amah and the former spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, with the mission to execute Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Another military officer with a great deal of experience in dealing with dissidents was the second candidate for the mission. On the same day, Turkish media close to the President published images of what it described as a 15-member "assassination squad" allegedly sent to kill Khashoggi, and of a black van later traveling from the Saudi consulate to the consul's home. On 17 October the ''Daily Sabah'', a news outlet close to the Turkish president, published the names and pictures of the 15-member Saudi team apparently taken at passport control. Additional details about identities were also reported along with their aliases. According to one report, seven of the fifteen men suspected of killing Khashoggi are Mohammed bin Salman's personal bodyguards. The ''Daily Sabah'' outlet named and detailed: * Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb ( ar, ماهر عبد العزيز مطرب, links=no) (born 1971): a former diplomat in London, was photographed with
Mohammad bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
on trips to
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
,
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...
,
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. (convicted) Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Salah Mohammed al-Tubaigy ( ar, صلاح محمد الطبيقي, links=no) (born 1971): the head of the Saudi Scientific Council of Forensics. (convicted) Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Abdulaziz Mohammed al-Hawsawi ( ar, عبد العزيز محمد الهوساوي, links=no) (born 1987): works as one of
Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud ( ar, محمد بن سلمان آل سعود, translit=Muḥammad bin Salmān Āl Su‘ūd; born 31 August 1985), colloquially known by his initials MBS or MbS, is Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia. H ...
's personal bodyguards. * Thaer Ghaleb al-Harbi ( ar, ثائر غالب الحربي, links=no) (born 1979): a member of the Saudi Royal Guard. Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Mohammed Saad al-Zahrani ( ar, محمد سعد الزهراني, links=no) (born 1988): a member of the Saudi Royal Guard. Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Meshal Saad al-Bostani ( ar, مشعل سعد البستاني, links=no) (born 1987, died 2018): according to ''Al Jazeera'', a
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...
in the
Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force ( ar, ‎الْقُوَّاتُ الْجَوِّيَّةُ الْمَلَكِيَّةْ ٱلسُّعُوْدِيَّة, Al-Quwwat Al-Jawiyah Al-Malakiyah as-Su’udiyah) (RSAF) is the aviation branch of the Saudi Arabia ...
. According to Turkish media, he died in a car accident in Riyadh on return to Saudi Arabia. Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Naif Hassan al-Arefe ( ar, نايف حسن العريفي, links=no) (born 1986) * Mustafa Mohammed al-Madani ( ar, مصطفى محمد المدني, links=no) (born 1961): Khashoggi's
body double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes FOR another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stun ...
leaving the Saudi consulate by the back door, dressed in Khashoggi's clothes, a fake beard, and his glasses. The same man was seen at the Blue Mosque, in an attempt to show that Khashoggi had left the consulate unharmed. Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Mansur Uthman Abahussein ( ar, منصور عثمان أباحسين, links=no) (born 1972) Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Waleed Abdullah al-Shehri ( ar, وليد عبد الله الشهري, links=no) (born 1980) (convicted), Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Turki Musharraf al-Shehri ( ar, تركي مشرف الشهري, links=no) (born 1982) (convicted) Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Fahad Shabib al-Balawi ( ar, فهد شبيب البلوي, links=no) (born 1985) (convicted) Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Saif Saad al-Qahtani ( ar, سيف سعد القحطاني, links=no) (born 1973) Not charged and released. Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Khalid Aedh al-Taibi ( ar, خالد عايض الطيبي, links=no) (born 1988) Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Badir Lafi al-Otaibi ( ar, بدر لافي العتيبي, links=no) (born 1973) Sanctioned by US Treasury. * Ahmad Asiri, the deputy head of the Saudi intelligence agency Riasat Al-Mukhabarat Al-A'amah. Sanctioned by US Treasury. Four of these men had received paramilitary training in the United States in 2017 under a U.S. State Department contract, as was publicly revealed in 2021. A top Pentagon post nominee of US President Donald Trump, Louis Bremer, was grilled on Capitol Hill by Senator
Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgi ...
on 6 August 2020, over his firm Tier 1 Group's alleged involvement in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Reportedly, the employees of the private military contracting firm, where Bremer is a member of the board of directors, trained some of the Saudi killers charged in the assassination of Khashoggi. In 2019, David Ignatius – a ''Washington Post'' journalist – reported in one of his articles about a similar warning given by the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
to other government agencies in the US, about Tier 1 Group employees' involvement in the Khashoggi murder case. Bremer denies having any knowledge of the allegations or allegiance of his firm's employees in the Khashoggi assassination.


Saudi trial and convictions

The trial was conducted in secret with diplomats and Khashoggi family members permitted to attend but not speak. The court adhered to the official line that the killing was not premeditated. According to the Saudi prosecutors, ten people were questioned and then released due to lack of evidence against them. A total of 11 people were put on trial by the court. The court conducted ten hearings that were not open to the public. A few foreign diplomats were allowed to attend the hearings after swearing to secrecy. CNN reported that lack of public access made it impossible to understand how the court decided the verdict. On 23 December 2019, five people were sentenced to death for carrying out Khashoggi's killing: * Fahad Shabib Albalawi * Turki Muserref Alshehri * Waleed Abdullah Alshehri * Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, intelligence officer * Dr
Salah Mohammed Tubaigy Salah Mohammed Abdah Tubaigy ( ar, صلاح الطبيقي, born 20 August 1971), also spelled Tubaiqi, is a Saudi forensic doctor. He was the head of the Saudi Scientific Council of Forensics and a colonel in the armed forces of Saudi Arabia. ...
, a forensic doctor from the Saudi interior ministry Three other defendants, unnamed , were sentenced to a combined total of 24 years in prison for "covering up this crime and violating the law". The following defendants were released: *
Saud al-Qahtani Saud bin Abdullah al-Qahtani (born July 7, 1978) is a Saudi Arabian consultant and former royal court advisor. Prior to his dismissal in late 2018, he worked as an advisor to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. ...
, released without charge * Ahmed al-Assiri, a former deputy intelligence chief, released due to a lack of evidence * Mohammed al-Otaibi, Saudi Arabia's consul-general in Istanbul, released due to a lack of evidence The eight Saudis convicted in the verdict can appeal further. Clemency can be offered by Salah Khashoggi, the eldest son of Khashoggi. On 7 September 2020, the Criminal Court in Riyadh issued final convictions for eight people for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, in which five of them were given 20 years in prison, one received a 10-year sentence, and the other two would serve seven years in prison. The 20-year jail terms were given following Khashoggi's family decision to pardon them, the BBC added. Furthermore, none of the defendants' names were disclosed, according to ''The Guardian''. However, Khashoggi's fiancé went on social media to condemn Saudi Arabia's ruling, describing it as a total mockery of justice. A United Nations expert on human rights who carried out an investigation into the murder also criticized the ruling for lack of transparency or fairness.


Response to the Saudi trial

According to Amnesty International's Middle East Research Director Lynn Maalouf, the verdict was a whitewash and the organisation released a statement saying: "The verdict fails to address the Saudi authorities' involvement in this devastating crime or clarify the location of Jamal Khashoggi's remains ... only an international, independent and impartial investigation can serve justice for Jamal Khashoggi." The United Nations rapporteur on summary executions, Agnès Callamard, described the sentence as a "mockery" of justice, since, according to her, it was an " extrajudicial execution for which the state of Saudi Arabia is responsible" and its masterminds walk free. Although Khashoggi's sons reportedly accepted the 2019 verdict, they pardoned the five officials on 22 May 2020, which means the officials would not be executed but their families are to pay
blood money Blood money may refer to: * Blood money (restitution), money paid to the family of a murder victim Films * Blood Money (1917 film), ''Blood Money'' (1917 film), a film starring Harry Carey * Blood Money (1921 film), ''Blood Money'' (1921 film ...
to Khashoggi's family.


Reporters sans frontières lawsuit in Germany

On 1 March 2021
Reporters sans frontières Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...
(RSF) filed a criminal case in the Federal Court of Justice in
Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
against Crown Prince bin Salman for "
crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
" in the murder of Khashoggi, additionally for the arbitrary detention of 34 journalists. RSF cited the Code of Crimes Against International Law (VStGB), under which the specified journalists are victims of multiple counts of crimes against humanity, "''including willful killing, torture, sexual violence and coercion, enforced disappearance, unlawful deprivation of physical liberty, and persecution.''"


Economic and political boycotts

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery ( Uber Eats and Postmates), pa ...
's CEO
Dara Khosrowshahi Dara Khosrowshahi ( fa, دارا خسروشاهی, ; born May 28, 1969) is an Iranian-American businessman and the chief executive officer of Uber. Khosrowshahi was previously CEO of Expedia Group, a company that owns several travel fare aggreg ...
made calls to boycott Saudi Arabia over the death of Khashoggi. In October 2018, the UK and the US joined their major European partners in pulling out of a Saudi Arabia's economic forum nicknamed '' Davos in the desert'', in response to the murder of Khashoggi. WWE was criticized over their '' Crown Jewel'' event in Saudi Arabia and failure to boycott the country over the death of Khashoggi. WWE's Chief Brand Officer,
Stephanie McMahon Stephanie McMahon Levesque (born Stephanie Marie McMahon; ; September 24, 1976) is an American businesswoman and retired professional wrestler. She is the current chairwoman and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the world's largest prof ...
said that "at the end of the day, it is a business decision and, like a lot of other American companies, we decided that we're going to move forward with the event and deliver Crown Jewel for all of our fans in Saudi Arabia and around the world". Following Khashoggi's assassination, the Turkish president, Erdogan, did not travel to Saudi Arabia again until April 2022, when he met with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.


Aftermath

On 22 October 2018, Khashoggi's son and brother were summoned to a
photo op A photo op (sometimes written as photo opp), short for photograph opportunity (or photo opportunity), is an arranged opportunity to take a photograph of a politician, a celebrity, or a notable event.Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...
, has been banned from leaving the country since 2017. A family friend, Yehia Assiri, described the event as "a serious assault on the family". Nick Paton Walsh, a senior international correspondent, described it as "a remarkable display of the sustained and catastrophic disconnect between Riyadh and the outside world. As if PR is something you shoot yourself in the foot with." On 24 October 2018, Salah Khashoggi, who holds dual Saudi-US citizenship, and his family left Saudi Arabia for the US.


Other alleged abduction attempts

Following Jamal Khashoggi's killing and mutilation, several other exiled Saudi activists reported that the Saudi regime attempted to lure them into their embassies. ''
Middle East Eye Middle East Eye (MEE) is a London-based news website covering events in the Middle East and North Africa. MEE describes itself as an "independently funded online news organization that was founded in April 2014." MEE seeks to be the primary porta ...
'' published claims from an unnamed source with knowledge of Saudi intelligence agencies that the murder is part of a larger operation of silently murdering critics of Saudi government by a death squad named "
Tiger Squad The Tiger Squad ( ar, فرقة النمر, '), officially called the Rapid Intervention Force (Arabic: قوة التدخل السريع, ''Quat al-Tadakhul al-Sarie''), is a '' de jure'' protective security unit under the Crown Prince of Saudi A ...
", composed of the most trusted and skilled intelligence agents. According to the source, the Tiger Squad assassinates dissidents using varying methods such as planned car accidents, house fires, or poisoning clinics by injecting toxic substances into opponents when they attend regular health checkups. The alleged group members are recruited from different branches of the Saudi forces, directing several areas of expertise. According to ''Middle East Eye'', five members were part of the 15-member death squad who were sent to murder Khashoggi. Exiled Saudi activist Omar Abdulaziz said he was approached earlier in 2018 by Saudi officials who urged him to visit the Saudi embassy in Ottawa, Canada with them to collect a new passport. The Saudi activist stated that the officials from the Saudi regime, "They were saying 'it will only take one hour, just come with us to the embassy. After Omar Abdulaziz refused, Saudi authorities arrested two of his brothers and several of his friends in Saudi Arabia. Abdulaziz secretly recorded his conversations with those officials, which were several hours long, and provided them to ''The Washington Post''. The source interviewed by ''Middle East Eye'' also said the team planned to kill Omar Abdelaziz and claimed prince
Mansour bin Muqrin Mansour bin Muqrin Al Saud (1974 – 5 November 2017) ( ar, منصور بن مقرن بن عبد العزيز آل سعود) was a Saudi businessman, member of the House of Saud, and advisor at the Court of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. In ...
was assassinated by the squad by shooting down his personal aircraft as he was fleeing the country on 5 November 2017 and made to appear as an accidental crash. Opposition Saudi scholar Abdullah Alaoudh (son of Salman al-Ouda) said he was subjected to a similar plot when he sent in a passport renewal application to the Saudi Embassy in Washington. Alaoudh said, "They offered me a 'temporary pass' that would allow me to return to Saudi Arabia." Alaoudh suspected a trap and just let his passport expire. Prominent Saudi women's rights activist Manal al-Sharif also separately reported a similar event during her exile in Australia, having said: "If it weren't for the kindness of God I would have been
nother Amalie Emmy Noether Emmy is the '' Rufname'', the second of two official given names, intended for daily use. Cf. for example the résumé submitted by Noether to Erlangen University in 1907 (Erlangen University archive, ''Promotionsakt Emmy Noet ...
victim." The Tiger Squad also reportedly killed Suleiman Abdul Rahman al-Thuniyan, a Saudi court judge who was murdered by an injection of a deadly virus into his body when he had visited a hospital for a regular health checkup. "One of the techniques the Tiger Squad uses to silence dissidents or opponents of the government is to 'kill them with HIV, or other sorts of deadly viruses'". In August 2020, a lawsuit filed by exiled former minister of state, Saad Aljabri, alleged that members of the Tiger Squad were sent to Canada to assassinate him two weeks after Khashoggi was killed, but that they were denied entry by Canadian border security. Additionally, Aljabri's son, Khalid, has claimed that his brother-in-law was rendered from Dubai to Saudi Arabia in September 2017, where he was coerced into trying to persuade his wife to attend the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Khalid suspects she would have been abducted had she gone there. In July 2022, the United Arab Emirates’ authorities arrested an American lawyer, Asim Ghafoor, while he was transiting from the
Dubai International Airport Dubai International Airport ( ar, مطار دبي الدولي) is the primary international airport serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic. It is also the nineteenth-busies ...
. Ghafoor was informed that he was tried, convicted, and sentenced in absentia. The UAE claimed of convicting him of tax evasion and
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdicti ...
, and in coordination of the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. However, Ghafoor faced no criminal charges in the States. The U.S. said it did not request the Emirates to arrest Ghafoor. His attorney,
Faisal Gill Faisal Mahmood Gill ( ur, ) is a Pakistani-born (born June, 1972) American lawyer, administrator, and government advisor, who served as the interim chairman of the Vermont Democratic Party for several months in 2017. In July 2014, it was reveal ...
said Ghafoor never heard anything about the conviction before the arrest and didn’t see any documents for the government’s charges. It was being asserted that Ghafoor was arrested for his close ties with Jamal Khashoggi. They both together founded the organization Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN), which is strong critic of the
human rights abuses Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of h ...
in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and the arms sales by the US to these countries. Ghafoor is still a board member at DAWN. Besides, he had also served as Khashoggi’s lawyer. Rights groups said Ghafoor was another victim of UAE’s practice of convicting activists, lawyers and academics on broad charges. On 13 August 2022, Ghafoor was released by the Emirati authorities after paying a fine of $1.4 million. The UAE court also confiscated nearly $4.9 million from Ghafoor.


Reactions

For 18 days, Saudi Arabian officials denied Khashoggi had died in the consulate, before indicating a team of Saudi agents had overstepped their orders to capture him when a struggle ensued leading to his death. Turkey's president,
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as mayor of Istanbul from 1994 to ...
, said he believes the killing was premeditated and approved by the Saudi government, and sought extradition of the suspects. The United States' president,
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
, expressed support for the Saudi government, reserving judgment about culpability. This created a bipartisan uproar in
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, and 22 senators petitioned Trump to consider investigating whether Saudi Arabia should be sanctioned for human rights violations. Several countries called for a transparent investigation and condemned the killing. Allied Arab countries characterized the aftermath as a media campaign against Saudi Arabia. Germany, Norway and Denmark stopped the sale of arms to Saudi Arabia over the incident. Canada considered freezing its $13 billion General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada arms deal, but so far has chosen to proceed with the deal. According to a U.S. senator, the
Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...
granted authorizations to US companies to share sensitive nuclear power information with Saudi Arabia shortly after the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. In July 2019, Trump vetoed three bipartisan Congressional resolutions that would have halted arms sales. However, in February 2021, the Biden administration declassified a brief report that blamed Mohammed bin Salman as having approved the assassination, thereby implying that the administration planned to adjust U.S.–Saudi relations. On 11 December 2018, Khashoggi was named as a
person of the year __NOTOC__ Person of the Year or Man of the Year is an award given to an individual by any type of organization. Most often, it is given by a newspaper or other news outlet to annually recognize a public person. Such awards have typically been awa ...
by ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...
'' magazine for his work in journalism, along with other journalists who faced political persecution for their work. ''Time'' referred to Khashoggi, and the others, as a "Guardian of the Truth". In mid-August 2020, the Open Society Justice Initiative, part of
Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with a st ...
, filed a lawsuit in the district court of New York demanding the release of the government's report on Jamal Khashoggi's murder, under the
Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...
. In July, they filed for a similar request, but received no response from the authority on the legal deadline. A Showtime original documentary about the murder of Khashoggi, ''Kingdom of Silence'', was released on 2 October 2020, the second anniversary of his death. It was directed by Richard Rowley. In 2020, a documentary on the assassination of Khashoggi and the role played by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was made by an
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
-winning film director and producer, Bryan Fogel. However, it took eight months for Fogel to find a streaming service for ''
The Dissident ''The Dissident'' is a 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Bryan Fogel. It follows the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia's effort to control international dissent. The film had its world premiere at the Sund ...
'', which was released by an independent company.


See also

*
Saudi Arabia–Turkey relations Saudi Arabia and Turkey relations have always fluctuated between cooperation and alliance to enmity and distrust. Since the 19th century, the two nations have always had a complicated relationship. While Turkey and Saudi Arabia are major economic ...
* ''
The Dissident ''The Dissident'' is a 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Bryan Fogel. It follows the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia's effort to control international dissent. The film had its world premiere at the Sund ...
'' – a 2020 American documentary film about the assassination of Khashoggi, directed by Bryan Fogel *
Freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...
*
Pegasus (spyware) Pegasus is spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-arms company NSO Group that can be covertly installed on mobile phones (and other devices) running most versions of iOS and Android. Pegasus is able to exploit iOS versions up to 14.7, throug ...
*
Human rights in Saudi Arabia Human rights in Saudi Arabia are a topic of concern and controversy. The Saudi government, which mandates both Muslim and non-Muslim observance of Islamic law under the absolute rule of the House of Saud, has been accused of and denounced by var ...
**
Israa al-Ghomgham Israa al-Ghomgham (; also: ''Israa al-Ghamgam'') is a Saudi Arabian human rights advocate. She is especially known for her documentation of the 2017–18 Qatif unrest. In September 2018, she risked being sentenced to become the first female hu ...
– Saudi human rights activist who documented the 2017–18 Qatif unrest and faces execution by beheading ** Sheikh Baqir al-Nimr – dissident cleric executed for criticism of the Saudi regime **
Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr ( ar, علي محمد باقر النمر; born 20 December 1994) is a Saudi Arabian political prisoner who participated in the Saudi Arabian protests during the Arab Spring as a teenager. He was arrested in February ...
, (Sheikh Baqir al-Nimr's nephew), participated in the
protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
during the
Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of anti-government protests, uprisings and armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in Tunisia in response to corruption and econo ...
, arrested at the age of 17 and sentenced to death, to be carried out by beheading and crucifixion ** Salman al-Ouda – cleric in the city of Riyadh, urged the Saudi monarchy to launch democratic reforms, sentenced to death in September 2018 **
Raif Badawi Raif bin Muhammad Badawi ( ar, رائف بن محمد بدوي, also transcribed Raef bin Mohammed Badawi; born 13 January 1984) is a Saudi writer, dissident and activist, as well as the creator of the website ''Free Saudi Liberals''. Badawi wa ...
– imprisoned Saudi dissident, writer and activist **
Hamza Kashgari Hamza Kashgari Mohamad Najeeb (often Hamza Kashgari, ar, حمزة كاشغري; born 1989) is a Saudi poet and a former columnist for the Saudi daily newspaper '' Al-Bilad''. In 2011, he was on a Mabahith watchlist of pro-democracy activists. ...
– pro-democracy activist and columnist imprisoned for blasphemy **
Dina Ali Lasloom Dina Ali Lasloom ( ar, دينا علي السلوم; born 29 March 1993) is a Saudi woman who attempted to seek asylum in Australia to escape Saudi guardianship laws, but was forcibly repatriated to Saudi Arabia from the Philippines. She was s ...
– imprisoned Saudi asylum seeker ** Samar Badawi – imprisoned Saudi activist ** Fahad al-Butairi – abducted in Jordan and taken to be imprisoned in Saudi Arabia ** Manal al-Sharif – Saudi human rights activist **
Loujain al-Hathloul Loujain al-Hathloul ( ar, لجين الهذلول ''Lujjayn al-Hadhlūl''; born 31 July 1989) is a Saudi women's rights activist, a social media figure, and political prisoner. She is a graduate of the University of British Columbia. Al-Hathloul ...
– imprisoned Saudi activist **
Mishaal bint Fahd bin Mohammed Al Saud Mishaal bint Fahd Al Saud (1958 – 15 July 1977; ar, الأميرة مشاعل بنت فهد بن محمد بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود) was a member of the House of Saud who was executed by shooting for committing adultery in 197 ...
– Saudi princess executed for alleged adultery **
Sara bint Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Sara bint Talal Al Saud ( ar, سارة بنت طلال بن عبد العزيز آل سعود) is a Saudi princess and the daughter of Prince Talal. Early years Sara bint Talal was raised in Riyadh in the liberal, more progressive branch of Sau ...
– exiled Saudi princess and regime critic * 2016 Saudi Arabia mass execution * 2017 Saad Hariri affair


References


External links


Annex to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions: Investigation into the unlawful death of Mr. Jamal Khashoggi
(19 June 2019),
United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...
, 41st Session (24 June – 12 July 2019)
Khashoggi's columns for ''The Washington Post''

Visual guide to Khashoggi's disappearance
on ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
''
Killing Jamal Khashoggi: How a Brutal Saudi Hit Job Unfolded – Visual Investigations
The New York Times (YouTube), 16 November 2018.
The Jamal Khashoggi murder reconstructed, Al Jazeera English (YouTube), 3 April 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khashoggi, Jamal 2018 controversies 2018 in international relations 2018 in Istanbul 2010s crimes in Istanbul 2010s missing person cases 2018 murders in Turkey Deaths by person in Europe Assassinations in Turkey Diplomatic incidents Khashoggi family Missing person cases in Turkey Murder in Istanbul 2018 murders in Asia October 2018 crimes in Europe October 2018 events in Turkey Saudi Arabia–Turkey relations Saudi Arabia–United States relations Turkey–United States relations