The four children of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi have received monthly five-figure payments and million-dollar houses in Saudi Arabia as compensation for the death of their father from the Saudi government.
The recently disclosed payments are reportedly part of an ongoing arrangement between the Khashoggi family and Saudi Arabia, by which the kingdom has endeavored to curb the siblings’ public statements regarding the killing of their father by Saudi operatives, according to The Washington Post.
In the six months since Khashoggi’s death in Istanbul, his two sons and daughters have refrained from publicly partaking in the global backlash that erupted in the aftermath of the prominent journalist’s slaying.
King Salman reportedly approved the compensation to the Khashoggi siblings late last year in what a former official described as an attempt “to make a wrong right” in the aftermath of “a big injustice,” according to the Post.
Another official, however, has downplayed the payments, claiming such compensation is nothing more than common practice.
“Such support is part of our custom and culture,” the official told the Post. “It is not attached to anything else.”
The siblings may also be entitled to much larger payouts in the coming months when the trials of Khashoggi’s accused killers are completed. According to the Post, the late journalist’s children could receive tens of millions of dollars apiece in so-called “blood money” negotiations. The arrangement may require the siblings to publicly forgive or absolve the killer in order to receive the massive payout.
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