Khashoggi fiancee urges world leaders to snub G20 summit

Speaking at this year's Logan symposium, funded by the Centre for Investigative Journalism, Cengiz urged journalists to continue to ask questions over Khashoggi's murder until the truth is uncovered.

She also called for supporting Saudi women's rights activists and prisoners of conscience, stressing that public pressure will bring justice for Khashoggi and others.

"The reason why Jamal's case is still significant is that you as journalists and I, as the witness of this incidence, have not given up on following this case," Cengiz said.

"The awareness we generated after Jamal’s murder has increased pressure on Saudi Arabia and showed the world the injustices there, such as the ill-treatment of women and prisoners of conscience," she said.

"I believe that this continued public pressure has a strong impact on realizing justice for Jamal and others to be set free and punishment of the ones responsible for it."

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, was killed and dismembered by a group of Saudi government operatives shortly after he entered the country's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on October 2, 2018. His body was never recovered.

Saudi Arabia's government has been under growing pressure over its human rights record ahead of the summit, held virtually on November 21-22 and will discuss themes including women’s empowerment.

Last week, the Saudi Ambassador to the UK said internal discussions are in place over preserving the kingdom's reputation and assessing the political damage caused by issues like the detention of women rights activists.

"People ask: is it worth the damage it is causing you, whatever they did? That is a fair argument to make and it is a discussion we have back at home within our political system and within our ministry," he said in an interview with The Guardian.

However Saudi Arabia’s embassy in London denied Riyadh was considering clemency for jailed female activists ahead of the summit

"The Saudi embassy in London denied to the BBC that its ambassador had said a debate was ongoing in the Kingdom about the possibility of clemency for detained women’s activists before the G20 summit,” BBC Arabic said in a Twitter post.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay connected