Jamal Khashoggi’s Fiance: Tyrants Always ‘Pay for Their Sins’

Jamal Khashoggi’s fiance, Hatice Cengiz, has honored the missing journalist on his birthday with a heart-wrenching piece in The New York Times describing Khashoggi as a “martyr” for “every person with a conscience and moral compass.” “Jamal spoke up against oppression, but he paid for the Saudi people’s demand for freedom with his own life. If he is dead, and I hope that is not the case, thousands of Jamals will be born today, on his birthday,” Cengiz wrote. Her comments were published Saturday, the same day President Trump vowed to take action against the Saudi government if they are found to be involved in Khashoggi’s disappearance. Turkish authorities say they have evidence Khashoggi was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul after being lured there by top officials. The Saudi government has insisted Khashoggi left the building, though Cengiz, who was waiting for him outside, said she never saw him again. She has said she believes the Saudi kingdom will suffer consequences if Khashoggi was “murdered by the errand boys of Mohammed bin Salman.” “Tyrants eventually pay for their sins,” she warned. As for reports of President Trump wanting to invite her to the White House, Cengiz said she would consider if “f he makes a genuine contribution to the efforts to reveal what happened inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul that day.”