The murder of a journalist anywhere is condemnable because journalists are the conscience of society and should not have to fear losing their lives.

Wale Sokunbi

Of all the troubling developments in recent times, none has caught my imagination as the dastardly murder of the Saudi Arabian, United States-based journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, in his own country’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. The story, which reads more like fiction than reality, is that of the journalist, a strong critic of the Saudi Arabian Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, who was not only killed but reportedly dismembered in the very last place that anyone would expect such a bloody operation to occur.

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As the story goes, Khashoggi, a former member of the Saudi inner circle had fled the country to America last year, following his increasing criticisms of the Saudi leadership and his feeling that he was no longer safe in the country. The word had been out that Saudi Arabia was out to get him by any means, and he had remained safely tucked in America, writing a column for the influential Washington Post newspaper, until he had to go to the Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey on October 2, to perfect the paperwork for his divorce from his estranged wife, so as to marry his Turkish girlfriend, Hatice Cengiz.

Cengiz had accompanied him to the embassy and waited outside for hours after he went in. As she recalled later, Khashoggi had been apprehensive that he could be harassed at the consulate, but they had not envisaged such a high “level of barbarity and evil” that could result in his killing.

But alas, Khashoggi was never to come out of that consulate alive. A day to his appointment at the consulate, some 15 Saudi officials had arrived Turkey in two private jets and scoured a forest outside Istanbul, apparently looking for a place to dispose of the remains of Khashoggi, who was apparently scheduled to be killed the next day. A vehicle belonging to the Saudi Consulate was photographed parked at the precincts of the forest. His fate, apparently, had been sealed before the Saudi agents left their country and the facts surrounding his killing and dismemberment are only now coming to light.

Beyond the search for a burial place for Khashoggi’s remains, the Saudi mission to Turkey also apparently came with a body double: someone who looked like Khashoggi, who would wear Khashoggi’s clothes and be filmed walking out of the embassy to support the theory that the journalist left the embassy alive. Reports have also indicated that the Saudis came with a bone saw and a forensics expert, who is versed in the dismemberment of bodies, to cut the journalist’s corpse into pieces.

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But for the fact that Khashoggi went to the Saudi Consulate in Turkey with his girlfriend keeping vigil somewhere around the entrance, the world would never have been able to unravel the circumstances surrounding his disappearance. After waiting for Khashoggi to come out of the consulate for many hours, his girlfriend raised the alarm to some of his friends holding important offices in Turkey, and questions began to be asked about his whereabouts. Saudi Arabia and its consulate officials insisted for two weeks that the journalist left the embassy alive. However, there were certain fortuitous clogs in the wheel of the Saudi Arabian story. First, nothing could be made of the Khashoggi body-double because his look-alike, who had been flown to Turkey for the purpose of creating the impression that the journalist left the embassy alive, actually left the embassy in the journalist’s clothes, but did not either remember to, or could not wear his shoes. So, he was filmed leaving the embassy in his own trainers, in which he was filmed walking into the embassy with other Saudi officials when they arrived earlier. This inexplicable development put paid to the body double plan. Moreover, the supposed Khashoggi was videoed walking into a shopping mall in Khashoggi’s look-alike clothes, but came out wearing his own clothes!

Khashoggi was also reported to have been wearing a watch which recorded the audio of his killing and dismemberment. Although his killers were said to have later discovered and deleted much of the audio recording, they did not succeed in deleting all. Again, investigators who were eventually allowed into the consulate by Saudi Arabia following an international outcry found evidence that the Closed Circuit TV at the embassy had been switched off after Khashoggi entered the building but was switched on hours later. Investigators were also reported to have found evidence of fresh painting at the consulate, suggesting a possible attempt to cover blood stains and other incriminating evidence.

There had been no love lost between Khashoggi and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Although the heir to the Saudi throne has been in the forefront of reforms in the conservative kingdom, Khashoggi had not been impressed by the pace of the reforms. He also did not hide his dislike of Saudi Arabia’s liberal intellectuals’ increasing acceptance of the idea that the country was not ready for democracy and would, instead, settle for a strong leadership and a “benevolent autocracy”. He firmly stood against these positions in his columns in the Washington Post.

Saudi Arabia’s earlier claims on the Khashoggi case are embarrassing. The Kingdom initially insisted that Khashoggi left the embassy alive. Next, it said he was mistakenly killed during a choke-hold by rogue operatives during an attempt to forcibly take him to Saudi Arabia. At another time, the Kingdom said he died during a fist fight with Saudi officials. The country, however, later admitted that his murder was premeditated and actually planned a few days before it was carried out.

The current point of departure with the world now, however, is the Kingdom’s insistence that his killers would be tried and punished in Saudi Arabia as they would not be repatriated to Turkey for trial. How well the world will accept the result of any investigation, trial and punishment of Khashoggi’s killers by the same country that tried so hard to cover up the murder remains to be seen. Even the Saudi Arabian ally and friend, Donald Trump of the United States, has described Saudi Arabia’s earlier stories as “the worst cover-up ever”. The killing has been roundly condemned by leaders around the world, except, as at the time of writing this article, by Nigeria’s leaders.

The idea of a murder taking place in the consulate of any country in the modern world is unthinkable. It is nothing but a desecration of what an embassy stands for, which is to protect the interest of its citizens and not to murder them. The murder of a journalist anywhere in the world is also roundly condemnable because journalists are the conscience of the society and should not have to live in fear of losing their lives. They should be free to speak and write the truth as they see it.

The killing of a journalist anywhere is an unacceptable muzzling of free speech. Writers must be allowed to freely practice their profession within the bounds of the law, wherever they choose to practice in the world. Extra-judicial killing of any kind is despicable and should not be tolerated in any part of the world. The investigation of Khashoggi’s death should be thorough. His killers should be brought to book and widely seen to be punished by the whole world.

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