The fiancée of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi is suing Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman over his “brutal execution”.
Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish national, filed the lawsuit in Washington DC on Tuesday, accusing the Saudi leader of the “brutal and brazen crime” of killing her fiancée after “weeks of planning”.
Ms Cengiz had been planning to marry Mr Khashoggi when he disappeared inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018.
She was waiting outside for him, but he never emerged and officials later ruled he died as a result of a “rogue operation”. Last month, five people were sentenced to 20 years in prison over Mr Khashoggi’s death, but they escaped the death penalty and Mr Bin Salman was not implicated in any way.Advertisement
Three others were sentenced to lesser jail terms. None of the eight convicted have been identified. Turkish intelligence officials say the operation was too big for the Saudi leader not to have known about it.
Ms Cengiz said in a statement on Tuesday: “Jamal believed anything was possible in America and I place my trust in the American civil justice system to obtain a measure of justice and accountability.”
The Saudi-born journalist founded a human rights organisation called Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) soon before he died. He was living in exile in the US and had written articles for the Washington Post criticizing the Saudi government.
The lawsuit claims that those responsible for Mr Khashoggi’s death “saw his actions in the United States as an existential threat”. “Defendants resolved to put an end to Mr Khashoggi’s efforts by any means necessary,” it adds.
Turkish officials claim that 15 Saudis were waiting inside the consulate in Turkey, where Mr Khashoggi had travelled to pick up documents for his upcoming wedding.
Saudi Arabia deny he was murdered, but his body is believed to have been dismembered and removed from the building.
Intelligence officials had the consulate bugged and recordings appeared to capture Mr Khashoggi’s last words, which were: “Don’t cover my mouth. I have asthma, don’t do it.”