Slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi's fiancée urges Justin Bieber to cancel Saudi Arabia show

Slain reporter Jamal Khashoggi's fiancee on Sunday asked the United States-based pop singer Justin Bieber to not perform at Dec. 5 show in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to a letter she wrote to the singer obtained by Washington Post. Bieber is scheduled to perform at the Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah. But Khashoggi’s partner Hatice Cengiz is now asking the world-famous star to cancel his performance to “send a powerful message to the world that your name and talent will not be used to restore the reputation of a regime that kills its critics,” according to the letter headlined “Please, Justin Bieber, Don’t Perform in Saudi Arabia” as cited by WaPo. 

Other performers at the event will include rapper A$AP Rocky, DJs David Guetta and Tiesto, and singer Jason Derulo. But several media activists globally, including Turkish scholars and activists, have now penned an open letter to the Canadian singer Justin Bieber asking him to withdraw from the show. 

“Do not sing for the murderers of my beloved Jamal,” Cengiz wrote in the letter accessed by WaPo. “Please speak out and condemn his killer, Mohammed bin Salman. Your voice will be heard by millions.”

She continued, “If you refuse to be a pawn of MBS [crown prince’s initials] your message will be loud and clear: I do not perform for dictators. I choose justice and freedom over money.”

MBS implicated for Khashoggi's murder in US intel report 

Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was implicated in the Washington Post columnist and critic of the kingdom’s regime Khashoggi’s 2018 murder in Istanbul by the United States in a declassified four-page US intelligence report, compiled with intelligence from the CIA and other spy agencies including the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

“We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi,” the report stated. 

US President Joe Biden called the operation “outrageous” as he condemned Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for murdering the reporter inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Meanwhile, MBS denied involvement in the murder but said that he accepts symbolic responsibility as the country’s de facto ruler. But the US argued that Khashoggi’s murder involved seven members of the crown prince’s “elite personal protective detail,” and other “high confidence” members, who wouldn’t have been behind the killing without the crown prince’s approval.

“The Crown Prince viewed Khashoggi as a threat to the Kingdom and broadly supported using violent measures if necessary to silence him,” the report stressed. 

Saudi has 'history of using celebrities' to deflect from pervasive abuses, says HRW 

“Saudi Arabia has a history of using celebrities and major international events to deflect scrutiny from its pervasive abuses,” Human Rights Watch said in a statement. It further asked other participating singers to “speak out publicly on rights issues or, when reputation-laundering is the primary purpose, not participate.” It alleged that the Saudi government’s intent is to use these celebrities to whitewash its abysmal human rights record and deflect scrutiny from its pervasive human rights violations against the peaceful dissidents and activists.

Despite the documented abuses, and confirmed report of one of his most prominent critics Khashoggi’s brutal murder, Washington stopped short of targeting the 35-year-old future Saudi king with state sanctions. 

The Biden administration, instead, unveiled “Khashoggi policy” to impose visa sanctions on individuals who, acting on behalf of a foreign government, engaged in “counter-dissident” activities, including harassment, surveillance, and threats against journalists, activists, and dissidents, according to the US press reports. US treasury had issued sanctions against Ahmad Hassan Mohammed al Asiri, the former deputy head of Saudi Arabia’s General Intelligence Presidency, stating that he was partisan in the Khashoggi’s murder. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry said the kingdom’s government “categorically rejects what is stated in the US report provided to Congress”.