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More than a month after the murder of well-known Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, no clear explanations have been given by Saudi Arabia with regards to his death.
With conflicting reports emerging of rogue operations and deadly fistfights, it is still uncertain whether the journalist’s killers will be prosecuted.
DW has put together a timeline of the most important facts in this intricate case:
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Vanishes into thin air
October 2: Prominent journalist Jamal Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he had gone to obtain an official document for his upcoming marriage to his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz. He never emerged from the building, prompting Cengiz, who waited outside, to raise the alarm.
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Confusion over whereabouts
October 3: Turkish and Saudi officials came up with conflicting reports on Khashoggi’s whereabouts. Riyadh said the journalist had left the mission shortly after his work was done. But Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said the journalist was still in the consulate.
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Murder claims
October 6: Turkish officials said they believed the journalist was likely killed inside the Saudi consulate. The Washington Post, for which Khashoggi wrote, cited unnamed sources to report that Turkish investigators believe a 15-member team “came from Saudi Arabia” to kill the man.
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Ankara seeks proof
October 8: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on Saudi Arabia to prove that Khashoggi left its consulate in Istanbul. Turkey also sought permission to search the mission premises. US President Donald Trump voiced concern about the journalist’s disappearance.
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
‘Davos in the Desert’ hit
October 12: British billionaire Richard Branson halted talks over a $1 billion Saudi investment in his Virgin group’s space ventures, citing Khashoggi’s case. He also pulled out of an investment conference in Riyadh dubbed the “Davos in the Desert.” His move was followed by Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi, JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon and a host of other business leaders.
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Search operation
October 15: Turkish investigators searched the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The search lasted more than eight hours and investigators removed samples from the building, including soil from the consulate garden and a metal door, one official said.
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Death after fistfight
October 19: Saudi Arabia finally admitted that Khashoggi died at the consulate. The kingdom’s public prosecutor said preliminary investigations showed the journalist was killed in a “fistfight.” He added that 18 people had been detained. A Saudi Foreign Ministry official said the country is “investigating the regrettable and painful incident.”
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
‘Grave mistake’
October 21: Saudi Arabia provided yet another account of what happened to Khashoggi. The kingdom’s foreign minister admitted the journalist was killed in a “rogue operation,” calling it a “huge and grave mistake,” but insisted that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had not been aware of the murder. Riyadh said it had no idea where Khashoggi’s body was.
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Germany halts arms sales
October 21: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would put arms exports to Saudi Arabia on hold for the time being, given the unexplained circumstances of Khashoggi’s death. Germany is the fourth largest exporter of weapons to Saudi Arabia after the United States, Britain and France.
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Strangled to death, dissolved in acid
October 31: The Turkish prosecutor concluded that Khashoggi was strangled to death soon after entering the consulate, and was then dismembered. Another Turkish official later claimed the body was dissolved in acid. Turkish President Erdogan said the order to murder the journalist came from “the highest levels” of Saudi Arabia’s government.
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Grilled at the UN
November 5: Saudi Arabia told the United Nations it would prosecute those responsible for Khashoggi’s murder. This came as the United States and dozens of other countries raised the journalist’s death before the UN Human Rights Council and called for a transparent investigation.
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Jamal Khashoggi: A mysterious disappearance and death
Fiancee in mourning
November 8: Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, wrote on Twitter that she was “unable to express her sorrow” upon learning that the journalist’s body was dissolved with chemicals. “Are these killers and those behind it human beings?” she tweeted.
Author: Ashutosh Pandey
October 2: Khashoggi enters the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, to obtain official documents ahead of his wedding. He had left his mobile phones with his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who waited for him outside. Hours later, when Khashoggi didn’t emerge from the embbady, she called friends to tell them what had happened.
October 3: In an interview with Bloomberg, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman says Khashoggi had left the consulate “a few minutes or an hour” after he arrived. In the meantime, Turkish authorities say police have established that Khashoggi is still inside the Consulate.
October 6: Turkish officials say Khashoggi was killed inside the consulate. The Washington Post also cites a US official who claims the journalist’s body was likely dismembered and flown out of the country.
October 15: Turkish investigators are allowed to enter the consulate to conduct a search and hunt for evidence in the journalist’s disappearance.
October 18: US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says he will not attend an important investment event in the Saudi capital Riyadh, following similar announcements from prominent political and business figures around the world.
October 19: Saudi Arabia finally admits that Khashoggi died in the consulate. The country’s public prosecutor says preliminary investigations show the journalist died after “altercation” and a “fistfight.” He adds that 18 people have been detained. A Saudi Foreign Ministry official states the country is “investigating the regrettable and painful incident.”
October 20: The next day, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and other world leaders say Saudi Arabia’s acknowledgment of Khashoggi’s death is unsatisfactory. Merkel also announces there will be no further weapon exports to Saudi Arabia until the case had been solved.
October 21: In an interview, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister provides yet another version of what happened to the journalist, saying he was killed in a “rogue operation” inside the consulate.
October 25: Saud al-Mojeb, Saudi Arabia’s Attorney General, says evidence shows that Khashoggi’s murder was premeditated, based on information provided from Turkish counterparts.
October 31: In the first public confirmation of such reports, the Turkish prosecutor says Khashoggi was strangled after he first entered the consulate, then dismembered.
November 2: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the order to murder the journalist came from “the highest levels” of Saudi Arabia’s government. A Turkish official claimed that Khashoggi’s body was dissolved in acid.
November 5: Saudi Arabia tells the United Nations it will prosecute those responsible for Khashoggi’s murder. This comes as the United States condemns the journalist’s killing in front of the UN Human Rights Council and calls for a transparent investigation.
November 8: Khashoggi’s fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, writes on Twitter that she is “unable to express her sorrow” upon learning that the journalist’s body was dissolved with chemicals. “Are these killers and those behind it human beings?” she wrote. In a comment to the press, Cengiz said she had not received official confirmation of reports that her fiancée body has been dissolved.
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