On This Day – 2nd October

Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi (/kəˈʃoʊɡi, kəˈʃ'ɡ'i/;, romanised: Jamāl ʾAḥmad Ḵāšuqjī, ( 13 October 1958 – 2 October 2018) was a Saudi Arabian dissident, author, columnist for The Washington Post, and a general manager and editor-in-chief of Al-Arab News Channel who was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018 by agents of the Saudi government after they had allegedly used Israeli spyware to hack his cell phone. He also served as editor for the Saudi newspaper Al Watan, turning it into a platform for Saudi progressives.

Khashoggi fled Saudi Arabia in September 2017 and went into self-imposed exile. He said that the Saudi government had "banned him from Twitter", and he later wrote newspaper articles critical of the Saudi government. Khashoggi had been sharply critical of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, and the country's king, Salman of Saudi Arabia. He also opposed the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.

On 2 October 2018, Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain documents related to his planned marriage, but was never seen leaving. Amid news reports claiming that he had been killed and dismembered inside, an inspection of the consulate, by Saudi and Turkish officials, took place on 15 October. Initially the Saudi government denied the death, but following shifting explanations for Khashoggi's death, Saudi Arabia's attorney general eventually stated that the murder was premeditated.By 16 November 2018, the CIA had concluded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman ordered Khashoggi's assassination.

On 11 December 2018, Jamal Khashoggi was named Time magazine's person of the year for his work in journalism along with other journalists who faced political persecution for their work. Time magazine referred to Khashoggi as a "Guardian of the Truth".

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