For three years, she has been fighting so that the memory of her companion does not fall into oblivion. His companion is Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, assassinated in October 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey, by the men of Saudi Arabia’s prince Mohamed Ben Salman when he had just entered his country’s consulate.
Since then, Hatice Cengiz, 39, has struggled to ensure that the direct responsibility of the prince, attested by several investigations including that of the CIA, is recognized, so that he is prosecuted, and so that the leaders of the whole world also act accordingly. and withdraw their support for the regime. For lack of a real answer, she decided to change the interlocutor and wrote a letter to Justin Bieber, letter published by the Washington post, the newspaper Jamal Khashoggi worked for.
“Here is a unique opportunity (…) Use your voice to support human rights, to say ‘I’m not performing for dictators, I choose justice over money’.”
Hatice Cengiz, human rights activistin a letter to Justin Bieber
The Canadian singer is preparing to give a concert on Sunday, December 5 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, concert that she asks him to cancel: “VHere is a unique opportunity to send a strong message to the world that your name and talent will not be used to restore the reputation of a regime that kills its opponents. (…) Please use your voice to support human rights, to say ‘I’m not performing for dictators, I choose justice over money’. Your voice will be heard by millions of people.“
Hatice Cengiz would like us not to forget, that the intensity of the shock of Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination does not wane. But she is fighting against a rich regime, which buys everything to restore its image: the Dakar in January, a Formula 1 grand prix in December, a Justin Bieber concert, not to mention contracts with states and foreign companies. .
Hatice Cengiz became an activist by necessity. PhD student in political science, specialist in the Middle East, she wanted to work on geopolitics. And then she met Jamal Khashoggi.
Opinion by Hatice Cengiz: My fiance was Jamal Khashoggi. Please, Justin Bieber, cancel your performance in Saudi Arabia. https://t.co/kEIGbM5Y8C
– The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 21, 2021
Both got married religiously, before organizing their civil marriage. It was to retrieve the last document necessary for the file that the journalist went to the consulate on October 2, 2018. Hatice Cengiz accompanied him, waited outside, before realizing that he would not come out. Since then, his life has been a struggle for truth and justice. For the moment Justin Bieber has not replied to his letter, but his latest album blows him a clue: his name is Justice.