A crown prince’s murderous impunity

The era of Divine Rights of Kings is over. It ended about 200 years ago.

In Europe, it ended with the decapitation of some terrible monarchs, the most prominent being King Louis XVI.

Sadly, some countries in the Middle East particularly the ancient and antiquated kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been locked in time.

The king it seems can still serve the heads of citizens for dinner! The Saudi kingdom lives in deep contradictions. It holds the sacred places to Islam.

But its government is anything but sacred. The abundance of petro-dollars has ensured that corruption is a daily way of life among the elite.

Impunity and the lust for power are routine. It is against this background of theocratic imperialism that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) was appointed by his father last year, displacing his cousin.

Who knows what really influenced the elderly king to take the decision? Did he want his direct son to succeed him or was it because he thought the new heir would move the kingdom in a batter direction?

The Crown Prince set out to reform the kingdom. To be sure, the kingdom still lives with rigid codes of social and cultural engagement. Women were not allowed to drive cars until recently.

The desert kingdom has been transformed into a modern paradise, including the pilgrimage cities of Mecca and Medina.

Of course alcohol is a no-go in Saudi Arabia because of Islamic injunctions; yet those who know say you can get alcohol in some areas (definitely outside the holy cities) if you know your way.

As a theocratic state, immoral acts are taboo, at least in public. Men and women do not socialise openly, yet if you know your way women of the night are present too.

Social media is monitored and controlled. Free self-expression is a luxury. It is a kingdom and the king is sovereign.

The founder of the kingdom did so along Islamic lines. But a theocratic state has to do business with a secular world. There is nowhere on earth where everybody conforms to strict moral codes.

The laws are fashioned after strict Islamic codes. Amputation of limbs and executions still continue, often in skewed conditions.

It is reported that rape victims are sometimes stoned. Indeed the society still keeps women in chains.

About three thousand persons are currently locked up without any charges brought against them on the orders of the Reigning Crown Prince, architect of the war on Yemen.

There are a thousand people who are serving life imprisonment. These are not citizens who have committed capital offences in the real sense of the word.

Majority of the jihadists behind 9/11 were of Saudi origin. Terrorism of sorts is also exported from there. Saudi Arabia and Iran do not see eye to eye, and continue to seek ascendancy in the region.

Jamal Khashoggi was a journalist of the fiercest and courageous breed. In a country where vocal opposition was a threat he did not hold back.

But he was a true nationalist – hoping that his criticism of his home government would help moderate the excesses of the maverick Crown Prince.

When he went into exile it was to keep a safe distance. His column in the Washington Post routinely addressed issues of national interest.

But the hardnosed murderer that is heir-apparent did not share that nationalist view.

All dissenting voices must be silenced. How many people I may ask have been so brutally murdered inside the kingdom? We may never know.

For expressing views which the Saudi Crown Prince and his cabal found uncomfortable a decision was taken to terminate the life of Khashoggi was taken possibly at the highest level.

The circumstances and methods of operation had every stamp of state participation.

First two jets left Riyadh for Turkey on the day of the disappearance. They conveyed agents now established as close persons to the Crown Prince.

They checked into hotels and finally entered the consulate just before Khashoggi arrived. CCTV camera showed Khashoggi entering the property.

His exit was not recorded. The Turkish authorities were quick to notice something was amiss. Khashoggi’s fiancée who had accompanied him to the Consulate paced up and down outside waiting for her beloved. She must have alerted the Turkish security that her fiancé had not come out of the property.

At first the Saudi government claimed that the journalist came out. Footage now shows a look-alike who wore Khashoggi’s clothes and left the embassy.

The decoy left the consulate after the murder, went to the mosque, entered a washroom and emerged smiling, satisfied that mission was accomplished.

What he didn’t know was that the same high-tech device which brought him to Turkey could be used and was used to record his movements.

The attempt to cover up the act shows that the scheme had the backing of the highest authority. We therefore cannot rule out the direct involvement of the 33 year-old power-drunk Crown Prince.

The outrage which has been expressed across the world is salutary. Even President Donald Trump has had to eat his words. But this should not be the end as it often happens.

The world should make it difficult for the murderer of Riyadh to do business with any government. Let him be taboo. Let him be anathema.

Let the strong message go that it is no longer business as usual to causally murder citizens and appear before the press smiling.

I commend the Turkish authorities. They have backed their allegations with tapes though not yet public. How they secured the recordings is matter for another day.

Suffice it to say I had thought that the promptness with which they handled the matter could only have been possible with superpower intelligence services. But I suppose that any nation which faces constant threats has no choice but to improve its security architecture.

The 18 men who violated the territory of Turkey and ended the life of an innocent citizen must be brought to trial.

President of Turkey Tayyip Erdogan has insisted that the criminals should be extradited to Istanbul for a trial and that the body of Khashoggi must be accounted for.

‘It’s a planned action,’ the dictator (himself a no-lover of the press) declared, ‘the surveillance system in the Consulate was deactivated before Khashoggi was murdered.’

In other words, the official position that roguish elements carried out the murder is a tissue of desert lies! The Mad Murderer of Riyadh has received the family of Khashoggi and offered condolences.

I suppose oil money will be splashed on the young son of the victim of State assassination.

But there is blood in the hands of the smiling 33 year-old monster who seeks to succeed his ailing father as the keeper of the Holy sites of a major world religion.

The Crown Murderer of Riyadh is a disgrace to the ideals of Islam and so does not deserve that elevated seat.

And until he atones for the shed blood let him be a leper in the comity of nations. Why did anybody shake the bloodied hands of the Evil Reformer at the Davos in the Desert conference?