Activists rename Brussels street after murdered Saudi journalist

A local chapter of the international human rights organisation Amnesty International has renamed the avenue Franklin Roosevelt into the avenue Jamal Khashoggi.

Amnesty International activists also protested at the Saudi embassy in Brussels, which is located on the avenue Franklin Roosevelt in the commune of Ixelles. They also hung street name signs and commemorative plaques in the area around the embassy.

Khashoggi, a fierce critic of the Saudi regime and journalist for The Washington Post, was murdered precisely one year ago in the Saudi embassy in Istanbul, Turkey.

Wies De Graeve, director of Amnesty International Flanders, said they renamed the avenue Franklin Roosevelt to draw attention to the journalist’s plight. “We organised this action because the full truth about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi needs to be brought to light by way of an independent, international inquiry. The world continues to wait for justice,” De Graeve told Bruzz.

“Jamal Khashoggi has become a symbol for the systematic and organised repression of journalists, human rights activists and civil society by Saudi leaders,” De Graeve added.

Just a couple of days ago, on 29 September, the Saudi crown prince Mohamed bin Salman for the first time admitted that he was accountable for the killing of Khashoggi.

Written by Linda A. Thompson

Photo: Belga / Ophelie Delarouzee