The suspected fate of Jamal Khashoggi has taken a dark turn. Having been missing for one week, the possibility has been raised that the Saudi journalist was murdered inside his country’s consulate in Turkey. If true, this is extra-judicial killing by every other name. It was Reuters news agency that first broke this potential turn of events; quoting unnamed officials in Ankara as concluding that the body was disposed of in diplomatic boxes. This was sufficient for Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS) to personally direct the mission to open its doors to Reuters journalists in a bid to demonstrate that Khashoggi was not on the premises. As if the former are not fact-finders but forensic experts of a different kind. Then there are the far-fetched claims that the consulate’s cameras were not equipped to record footage. Fears for the journalist’s safety have been exacerbated by reports of some 15 Saudi intelligence officials arriving in Turkey on the same day as his consulate appointment. Whatever has happened to Khashoggi, one thing is clear. This is an attack on media freedom. Very possibly at the hands of an authoritarian regime that insists on viewing any form of debate or independence of thought as an assault on its very hold on power. A former deputy editor of the Arab News daily, Khashoggi was often at loggerheads with Riyadh over bold editorial positions. This saw him fired from several posts before he went into self-imposed exile in the US last year. From there, he continued his criticism of Saudi policies, including the war on Yemen. More recently, he denounced MBS’ so-called reformist agenda as a whitewash for cracking down on dissent. If it turns out that this renowned journalist was murdered – what happens next will be crucial in the quest for accountability and justice. Turkey must probe the matter until its logical conclusion as President Erdogan has promised. Regardless of censure of Ankara’s domestic record when it comes to strangling the fourth estate. Otherwise, it will stand accused of protesting the disappearance (or worse) of a foreign journalist while routinely putting its own behind bars. This will make it easier for the Kingdom to accuse the Turks of exploiting the Khashoggi case for political gain. As for the US, it must stop viewing Riyadh as a cash cow when it comes to lucrative arms deals and attracting foreign direct investment. All of which has allowed the Saudis to literally get away with murder in Yemen. And then there is the question of holding the Kingdom to the same human rights standards as much of the rest of the world. Global rights groups would do well to call for a new social contract between state and media across the board; reinforcing the fact that journalists doing their jobs are not political dissidents. And that constructive criticism can never be confused with treason. While recognising that it is entirely possible for the state to commit the aforementioned against the citizenry. As the Khashoggi case seems to suggest. The right of the fourth estate to go about its work free from a climate of fear and intimidation is a hard-won one. That it is under fire the world over does not bode well for anyone. * Published in Daily Times, October 9th 2018.