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Missing Saudi Journalist Causes Alarm Regarding Press Freedom

People hold posters of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest organized by members of the Turkish-Arabic Media Association at the entrance to Saudi Arabia's consulate on October 8 in Istanbul. Fears are growing over the fate of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi after Turkish officials said they believe he was murdered inside the Saudi consulate.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
People hold posters of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a protest organized by members of the Turkish-Arabic Media Association at the entrance to Saudi Arabia's consulate on October 8 in Istanbul. Fears are growing over the fate of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi after Turkish officials said they believe he was murdered inside the Saudi consulate.

Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi is a columnist for The Washington Post. But over the weekend, Turkish police said they believed that Saudi forces killed and dismembered Khashoggi inside their consulate in Turkey.

Khashoggi became a vocal critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (also known as MBS), who has tried to portray himself as a reformer.

From The New Yorker:

On Sunday, Yasin Aktay, an adviser to Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdoğan, told Reuters that Turkey believes Khashoggi was murdered in the Saudi consulate, adding that fifteen Saudis were allegedly involved in Khashoggi’s disappearance. Erdoğan told reporters that his government is investigating the event. “Entries and exits into the embassy, airport transits, and all camera records are being looked at and followed,” he told reporters. “We want to swiftly get results.” The U.S. State Department also said it is closely following the case. A Turkish colleague of Khashoggi’s told journalists, on Sunday, that the Turkish government advised him to “make your funeral preparation.” Khashoggi had been killed “in a barbaric way” and then dismembered, Turan Kışlakçı, who heads the Turkish-Arab Media Association, told the Associated Press. Another report claimed that his body had been taken back to Saudi Arabia.

MBS waved off the rumors in an interview with Bloomberg. He said, “we have nothing to hide.”

Khashoggi’s editor, Karen Attiah, weighed in on Twitter.

— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 8, 2018

— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) October 8, 2018

What happened to Jamal Khashoggi? How could his disappearance affect relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia? And amid a troubling climate regarding press freedom, how does Khashoggi’s case raise the stakes?

Produced by Rupert Allman. Text by Gabrielle Healy.

GUESTS

Rob Mahoney, Deputy director, Committee to Protect Journalists

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

© 2018 WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio.

Copyright 2018 WAMU 88.5

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