Blinken: Khashoggi’s assassination was an attack on freedom of expression

WORLD, Oct. 08 (YPA) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken commemorated the fourth anniversary of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder on Sunday, saying it represented “an attack on freedom of expression everywhere.”

“Jamal Khashoggi’s murder four years ago was also an attack on freedom of expression everywhere,” Blinken tweeted.

“As we mourn Jamal, we’ll continue to stand with and support human rights defenders, journalists, and others to protect fundamental freedoms worldwide,” he added.

“I live with the horror and injustice of his murder, and the callousness and impunity of our world ‘leaders’ every day,” wrote Karen Attiah, who is now a Washington Post columnist.

“But this year has been particularly painful. The Biden administration has made its fist-bump peace with MBS. The Turks have shut down their investigation. Outlets like the Atlantic are writing both-sides apologia pieces for MBS, praising his reform,” she added.

Attiah also noted the US continues to sell arms to Riyadh, which is fueling a civil war in Yemen.

“I have appreciated all of you who continue to keep Jamal’s name and case alive,” Attiah tweeted. “I still have so much more to say about it all — and will do so in time.”

Attiah linked to a story about Salma al-Shehab, a university student sentenced to 34 years in prison in August over her twitter account, in which she followed and retweeted activists and dissidents.

“4 years after Jamal’s murder, the United States continues to sell billions of dollars in weapons to the Saudi government, a regime that carries out mass executions, continues to bomb Yemen, and sentences people to decades in prison for their tweets,” she said.

E.M