02 Mar 2021; MEMO: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman should be punished "without delay", the fiancée of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi said yesterday.
Speaking after a US intelligence report found that the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia had played a role in the murder of the Washington Post columnist in 2018, Hatice Cengiz said: "It is essential that the crown prince… should be punished without delay."
"If the crown prince is not punished, it will forever signal that the main culprit can get away with murder which will endanger us all and be a stain on our humanity."
Khashoggi was critical of Saudi policies under Bin Salman. He was killed and dismembered by a hit squad in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
"Since 2017, the Crown Prince has had absolute control of the Kingdom's security and intelligence organizations, making it highly unlikely that Saudi officials would have carried out an operation of this nature without the Crown Prince's authorization," the US report said.
The US imposed sanctions on a number of people involved in the murder, but not on the crown prince.
