Murdered journalist Khashoggi’s fiancée calls for US action against Saudi crown prince
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In an interview with FRANCE 24, the fiancée of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi hailed the recent decision by the Biden administration to declassify an intelligence assessment of her fiancé’s shocking 2018 murder at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. But Hatice Cengiz called on Washington to go beyond words and enforce “sanctions” or other “actions” against Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Speaking to FRANCE 24 from Istanbul, the fiancée of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi welcomed as a “very significant step” the decision by the Biden administration to declassify an intelligence assessment saying the Saudi crown prince “approved an operation” to “capture or kill” Khashoggi.
However, Cengiz stressed that this step was insufficient, saying that without concrete “sanctions” or other “actions” against the Saudi crown prince, justice would not be served. “It is time to do [the] right thing: that’s my message to [US President Joe] Biden. He should do more,” she told FRANCE 24’s Marc Perelman.
Two bills have been introduced in the US Congress to seek sanctions against MBS, a move that Cengiz welcomed. She also voiced her “support” for a crimes against humanity lawsuit filed in Germany against the crown prince by the press watchdog Reporters Without Borders.
Cengiz also expressed “hope” that world powers might change the way they deal with Riyadh, adding that the Turkish authorities were still determined to seek the truth about the assassination that took place on Turkish soil, with a trial currently under way.
She said she was “doing well” and “recovering” from the 2018 murder but that the hardest part was not knowing where her fiancé’s remains are. “Without [a] last goodbye, it is really hard to believe what happened,” she told FRANCE 24.
