Seeking the News !

What we read in the newspapers each morning probably puts a writer somewhere else in the world at risk.   The job of journalists is gathering the news and that is not welcome in countries with secretive governments. At the very least, persistent writer critics may find themselves in prison on trumped up charges.  At the worst, they may die from an assassins bullet.

Saudi Arabia's oil makes it one of the richest countries on the planet, but its religious laws impose a lifestyle most Australians could not envisage.  In particular, women are subjected to taboos that until recently made it a criminal offence to drive a car.  The present ruler is modernising the country against strident opposition and he has adopted strong arm methods to stifle dissent.

A writers fame is an invisible shield that protects that person from direct danger, particularly if that writer lives abroad and has a network of supporters covertly feeding the information needed to disclose business the authorities want to keep secret.   Such a Saudi journalist was a columnist for the Washington Post newspaper and his writings were a thorn in the side of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman.

It seems that Jamal  Khashoggi intended to marry and Saudi law required paperwork to be lodged for that to be legally accepted.   He was living in Turkey and he made a brief visit to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul - and mysteriously vanished.   All the entrances and exits are covered by cctv cameras and they recorded his arrival - but failed to record his departure.  It seems likely that he was murdered within the walls of what is considered legal Saudi property in the diplomatic sphere.

That International covenant is a trap awaiting any dissident who is out of the reach of their country of birth.  The land on which an embassy or consulate is built is deemed to be the land of that country and it is therefore exempt from entry by the police or army of the host nation.  During the cold war, dissidents who managed to find shelter in a western embassy sometimes lived safely for years within that protection and many foreign embassies were simply the base for spy activities.

Khashoggi's body was probably hastily disposed of before his absence was noticed.  The Saudi's claim he left peacefully and even offer Turkey entry to conduct a search of the consulate, but there is little more that can be done.  The Saudi's have delivered a message that will be sobering to those writing about the oil rich country.   It has a long arm, and it has the ability to use it forcibly if threatened.

The poisoning of Russian dissidents in England with the use of nerve toxin illustrates the revenge methods employed by some regimes.  It seems that what we read in the morning newspaper is costing the lives or liberty of journalists somewhere  in the world.