THE CHILDREN OF murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi are receiving thousands of dollars a month from Saudi Arabia, it has been revealed.
Khashoggi was murdered after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last October – a claim that was initially denied by Saudi officials.
The Washington Post, where Khashoggi was a columnist, reported the children of the journalist – two sons and two daughters – are each receiving “blood money” to the tune of thousands a month from Saudi Arabia.
They have also reportedly received multi-million dollar houses in the Saudi kingdom in a bid to stifle public statements from the children, the Post said.
Sums of up to $10,000 per month are reported to be given to each child and said to have been approved by King Salman as part of an acknowledgment “that a big injustice has been done”.
On 2 October, the well-known critic of the Saudi government who had fled the kingdom, entered the consulate and was reported to have been killed, and his body dismembered, under orders of high-ranking Saudi officials.
CCTV footage emerged shortly after of him entering the building to obtain documents for a divorce arrangement but no such footage emerged of him leaving.
His body was never recovered with reports at the time suggesting he was dismembered and removed in a suitcase.
On 15 November, the Saudi public prosecutor admitted Khashoggi had been killed by a lethal injection while at the consulate, although any involvement in the killing by the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman, has always been denied.
The Saudi government insists a rogue intelligence agent was responsible for the death of the journalist.
The Post said Saudi officials deny the ongoing payments are in exchange for silence from the Khashoggi family.
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