US President Donald Trump awarded Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a first-class human rights certificate during his visit to Washington. “I’m very proud of what he has achieved. What he has done is truly extraordinary, in terms of human rights and other things,” Trump said in the Oval Office alongside a smug-looking MBS, as the heir to the Saudi throne is known. Trump added: “It’s an honor to be your friend and it’s an honor that you’re here.”
The visit of the de facto Saudi ruler drew strong criticism from journalists and human rights activists. Most important were the killings of journalists and government critics Jamal Khashoggi At the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018, relations with the US temporarily deteriorated. Khashoggi worked, among other things, as a columnist for the famous US newspaper “Washington Post”. His body was dismembered and has not been found to date. The US secret service sees the Saudi crown prince as the mastermind behind the crime.
However, Trump firmly rejected journalists’ questions about the Khashoggi case. “A lot of things happened,” Trump said. Muhammad bin Salman However, I don’t know anything about this issue, said the US President.
Activists: The worst repression in the country’s history
Shortly before the visit, Human Rights Watch and other human rights organizations issued an appeal calling for a clear stance from the United States. Washington must address issues such as executions in the country, which will hit a record high this year with 300 people executed. It is highly unlikely that the defendants will receive a fair trial.
In recent years, Saudi Arabia has experienced the worst crackdown on freedom of expression and disregard for human rights in the country’s modern history, activists say.
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