By James Simons And Charlotte Webster-
The National Union Of Journalists held Silent vigils for murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi outside the Saudi embassies in London and Dublin.
The memorial services were held after Hatice Cengiz, the fianceé of Washington Post columnist Khashoggi, told US broadcaster ABC news earlier this week that her husband-to-be “did not want to go” to the Saudi consulate in Turkey, which he was last seen entering on 2 October. The service was moving and a reflection of the collective outrage against the barbaric murder.
One journalist at the service who did not want to be named, told The Eye Of Media.Com that ”the attack against Khashoggi was an attack against journalism, against free speech. It is a horrifying thought that a journalist was killed but a month later the individual who ordered the murder has not been formally identified”
At the memorial service held in London on Monday night, Khashoggi’s bereaved fiancee, Cengiz said she believed Saudi Arabia knew where her husband’s body was located and described Khashoggi as a “martyr”. His body has neve rbeen found although Turkish authorities have recently said they believe his body was vapourized with acid.
The New York Times and Washington Post reported claims earlier this week that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the White House he believed Khashoggi was a dangerous Islamist who was part of the Islamic brotherhood in an alleged phone call following his disappearance. Khashoggi’s family and his family have strenuously denied the claims
Khashoggi, 59, was killed on 2 October after entering the Saudi consulate in Turkey, where he sought marriage documents. A Turkish prosecutor has claimed that he was strangled on entering the building and later dismembered and disposed of.
The Saudi Attorney General has since claimed the journalist was killed by agents in an unsanctioned “rogue operation”. The kingdom has said it has arrested 18 men in connection with his death.
In a statement on the Khashoggi vigils, NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “This vigil is to mark the contribution to journalism and principled values of Jamal Khashoggi and to protest to the Saudi authorities, implicated in his murder, of our deep shock and anger at his violent killing.
“The current spectacle of world leaders targeting journalists and their work is something that should unite us in outrage.
“Media workers being used as pawns in geopolitical game-playing or exploited as political leverage is disgraceful and unacceptable.”
Following revelations around the killing of Khashoggi, ITV’s head of commissioning for comedy and entertainment, Asif Zubairy turned up to a celebrity Halloween party dressed as a Saudi executioner.He has since apologized, but this was bad taste on his part. Zubairy should be for for his stupidity
Writing in the Washington Post, Kashoggi’s Fiancee Hatice said:
‘It has been exactly one month since my fiance, the celebrated journalist Jamal Khashoggi, entered Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul never to return.
‘Today is also United Nations International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. The coincidence is tragic and painful…
‘As we witness the international outrage at his killing, the perpetrators should know that they can never erase his vision for his beloved country. They have only emboldened it.
‘It is now up to the international community to bring the perpetrators to justice. Of all nations, the United States should be leading the way.
‘The country was founded on the ideals of liberty and justice for all, the First Amendment enshrining the ideals personified by Jamal.