2023-10-02 08:39:09
On October 2, 2018, a “death squad” dismembered the Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi at his country’s consulate in Istanbul. The crime dominated the news and even promised to condemn Saudi Arabia to international ostracism. Five years later, the case has been forgotten in favor of the influence that the Arab monarchy exerts on the world economy.
Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain the necessary documentation to marry his fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, but He never made it out of the building..
The microphones installed by Turkish Intelligence in the building revealed that the 59-year-old dissident, He was drugged, tortured and later dismembered with a chainsaw that roared to the rhythm of speakers that played music to hide the roar of the carnage.
Bin Salman’s role
The main person accused was the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohamed bin Salmanand even the American CIA determined that he himself approved the murder given his omnipotence over all the kingdom’s security apparatus.
However, the young prince has denied his involvement from the beginning.
“It was a mistake, it was painful and we are doing the best we can to reform the system, to follow the rules and ensure everyone is safe“Bin Salmán said in an interview with the American network FOX broadcast at the end of September.
The president of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoganwhose country is facing a serious economic crisis, avoided turning the crime into a complete break with Saudi Arabia, saying only that “the order to kill Khashoggi came from the highest levels of the Saudi government.”
Only one advisor to the president said in public the phrase that could be expected from a leader like Erdogan, known for his vehement speeches: that Mohamed bin Salman “Her hands are stained with blood”.
In any case, Erdogan continued to proclaim that under no circumstances would he allow the crime to be covered up and in March 2020, the Turkish Prosecutor’s Office opened trial against 20 Saudi citizens. He would later add six more defendants.
However, in March 2022 the Public Ministry resigned from continuing to investigate. For Turkey, the case was closed with the visits of Erdogan to Saudi Arabia and Bin Salmán to Ankara, something that completely made the Khashoggi affair disappear from public discourse in Turkey.
Khashoggi’s two deaths
In Riyadh, it was closed in September 2020 with final sentences against eight accused of the murder.
Five people were sentenced to deathbut the sentence was commuted at the request of the victim’s family.
The UN High Commissioner for Extrajudicial Executions, Agnes Callamard, described the trial as a “farce” and a “parody of justice”, with a verdict that had no legitimacy as it was issued after a process that “was neither fair nor transparent.” .
The crime led countries like the United States or Germany to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Joe Biden, in his 2020 election campaign, said that the Arab kingdom would be treated as a “pariah” state.
In two years those limitations became history. Germany authorized the purchase of ammunition for 35 million dollars and the United States authorized the purchase of Patriot missiles for more than 3 billion.
In 2022, Bin Salmán was also named prime minister of the kingdom, in a move to grant him diplomatic immunity from the world and, above all, in the United States, where he cannot be tried.
“Jamal died again today“, then said Khashoggi’s fiancée, who accused Biden of “saving the murderer” of her future husband: “We thought that perhaps there would be a light of justice from the United States. But, again, money is what first,” he said.
Although the criticism has not ceased, the international community has opted for caution and consent.
A world power
Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as one of the great powers of the worldacting as a mediator in the invasion of Ukraine and in conflicts in the Middle East, including Yemen, a war that Riyadh intensified after its intervention in 2015.
The war in Ukraine has also highlighted Saudi influence in the energy sector and the world’s dependence on OPEC’s largest producer.
Meanwhile, the country invests millions of dollars to boost its entertainment sector and has signed big world football stars in what has been denounced as “sportwashing”, a practice that Bin Salmán himself acknowledged that they will continue to do as it is a bet that will allow his country’s GDP to grow “by 1%.” .
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