Threat to writers is threat to freedom

SIR, - Why is there so much fuss about Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist for the Washington Post seen walking into but not out of the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul? The suggestion, and probable reality, is that he has been killed.

The fuss surely isn’t because he is a journalist, for unfortunately it is not uncommon for them to meet an unsavoury end. The Committee to Protect Journalists lists 44 reporters murdered so far in 2018, and 46 in 2017, with names and details supplied as to who they were and what happened.

The International Federation of Journalists suggests even greater numbers have been killed, with 82 in 2017 and 73 so far in 2018.

Either way, that is around 100 journalists killed in just the past two years, and these deaths have not received such a prominent place in the news. There must be another reason, then, for the publicity surrounding the fate of Khashoggi.

It has been suggested that there is an unwillingness to upset the Saudi community and its lovely oil supply. There is no proof to date of any wrongdoing, apart from the incidental detail of the location where Khashoggi was last seen.

However, there is also no alibi, no other sightings of or contact with Khashoggi in more than a week, so it would appear unlikely that he will be reporting on anyone in the Saudi royal family again.

Foul play is strongly suspected and the international community should step up to investigate what exactly has happened to Khashoggi, and in general to protect other ournalists.

When journalists are killed, disappear or are threatened, freedom comes under attack, and this is never acceptable.