Although the tragedy happened two years ago, it began to resurface due to recent information and events. For those unfamiliar with what happened to Jamal Khashoggi along with the Saudi Arabian prince and his part in the murder, background information might help.
Jamal Khashoggi came to the U.S. from Saudi Arabia in 2017 after going into self-imposed exile. While living in Saudi Arabia, he worked for the royal family and served as an advisor for the government. As part of his job as a journalist, he criticized the former king of Saudi Arabia. After a while, the government fell out of favor, meaning they no longer supported or approved of him, which led to his departure from the country and movement to the U.S. During his stay in the U.S., he wrote for the Washington Post, which had criticized the policies of Prince Mohommed, who officially came to power in the same year.
In the month before Khashoggi’s murder, he went back to Saudi Arabia to pick up a document proving his divorce with his previous wife in order to marry his fiancé. Instead of getting the papers, he had to go back the next month, October 2nd, to obtain it. When Khashoggi came back on that day, he died. The Saudi Arabian government denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s murder for weeks until later on October 20th. After investigating, they had been informed that the journalist died from a chokehold while in a fight, after resisting attempts of him being returned to Saudi Arabia. After that statement, U.S investigators concluded that Khashoggi died from an overdose and later on, they discovered his dismembered body. The U.S investigators’ information proved that the Saudi Arabian government lied about the cause of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.
According to NPR, the U.S. Intelligence said in a report that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince approved the operation that led to Khashoggi's death. Their statement could be true because when Mohommed officially became prince, he gained complete control over the kingdom's security and intelligence organizations. This makes it unlikely that officials of Saudi Arabia would have continued with the plan without the prince’s approval; Saudi Arabia claims it to be false.
Khashoggi’s case came back up even though it happened more than two years ago. President Biden wanted to charge the crown prince with the murder. Due to having a lack of evidence and too much time, nothing could be done. Instead of charging the crown prince Mohommed for murder, he will no longer be invited to the United States. Other than that, the murder case comes to a close until further notice.
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