ANKARA (Middle East Eye) – The fiancée of the murdered Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi has criticized Australian golf champion Greg Norman over his defense of Saudi Arabia, which is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
The former world number one is spearheading the Saudi-backed series, seen by rights groups and activists as an example of the kingdom trying to “sportswash” its human rights record.
Taking questions at a promotional event for the $255mn tournament, Norman, known as “The Shark”, said: “This whole thing about Saudi Arabia and Khashoggi and human rights; talk about it, but also talk about the good that the country is doing in changing its culture.
“Everybody has owned up to it, right? It has been spoken about, from what I’ve read, going on what you guys reported.
“Take ownership, no matter what it is. Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”
Khashoggi, a 59-year-old Washington Post columnist, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018, in a gruesome murder that shocked the world.
Hatice Cengiz, in a statement issued through her London QC, said it was “hurtful when Jamal’s brutal killing is brushed off as a ‘mistake’ and that we should just move on. Would you say that if it was your loved one?”
Cengiz has previously called for Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to be punished after a declassified U.S. intelligence report said he likely sanctioned the murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Norman, 67, is chief executive of LIV Golf Investments, which is backed by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which the crown prince chairs.
The PIF is spearheading the kingdom’s transition away from petrodollars and investing heavily in sports and entertainment as part of the country’s economic diversification plan.
“How can we go forward when those who ordered the murder are still unpunished and continue to try to buy back their legitimacy?” Cengiz said.
“We should not fall for their wealth and lies and lose our morals and common humanity. We should all be insisting on the truth and justice; only then can we look forward with hope and dignity,” she added in her statement.
Amnesty International also criticised Norman’s remarks, and said Saudi Arabia was using the sport to clean its “blood-soaked image”.