A HERO’S LIFE IS WORTH MORE THAN BILLIONS IN LOST SALES

THERE is scant demand for a pantheon of heroes in our post-truth world, but should they ever get around to building one, Jamal Khashoggi should feel at home there. In his final column, which we publish today, the campaigning Saudi Arabian journalist writes with chilling prescience why he fears that Arab governments have been given free rein by the international community to silence the media at an accelerating rate.

The article, which foreshadowed his own fate, laments: “A state-run narrative domi- nates the public psyche, and while many do not believe it, a large majority of the population falls victim to this false narrative. Sadly, this situation is unlikely to change...”

Mr Khashoggi evidently recognised the danger he was in, placing his girlfriend outside the Saudi Arabian embassy in Turkey, fearing he was under threat by keeping his appointment.

Turkish officials say they have obtained audio recordings that suggest he was tortured and killed. We shall have to wait and see. But all the evidence suggests Mr Khashoggi has paid a terrible price for the right to be heard.

The world, and not just the media, needs to know the truth about his disappearance.

What transpired in Istanbul on the night of October 2 cannot be covered up. Yet nine days after reports of Mr Khashoggi’s death, US President Donald Trump was asked whether he would cancel arms sales to the oil-rich kingdom if its leaders were implicated.

His response was extraordinary. Punishing Saudi leaders would cost the US money and jobs, he warned: “We don’t like it even a little bit. But whether or not we should stop $110bn from being spent in this country … That would not be acceptable to me.”

It ought not be forgotten that Mr Trump has repeatedly referred to the media as enemies of the people. When threatened like other world leaders he has felt free to discredit journalists. But he has taken it to a new level, directing mob anger against reporters at staged public events. Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, has called journalists “spies” in Mr Trump’s presence. In Russia, the authorities use a different tactic: they seek to drown accurate information.

All share the same aim, to undermine the very notion of truth. In this ever more sinister contest it matters little who the target is, so long as the right interests are served.

Buying weapons and maintaining a market for oil matters, but so too does the price of life. A veneer of concern while allowing businesses as usual is not sufficient. Saudi Arabia continues a brutal war in Yemen that has killed tens of thousands of civilians; famine threatens millions more.

A dark calculation that one dissident’s life is not worth billions of dollars in lost sales could come at incalculable cost.

Whether or not we should stop $110bn from being spent… That would not be acceptable to me