A controversial debate over the whereabouts of the former Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, now deceased, has sparked across America and much of the world in recent weeks. Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi Arabian columnist for The Washington Post that was living in the United States, and he was last seen the first week of October entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

After some time, new evidence has proven that Khashoggi was killed, and many suspect that the Saudi government took the journalist out on purpose. The chief prosecutor in Istanbul has stated that there is evidence that shows Khashoggi was strangled when he entered the Saudi Arabian consulate in early October. The prosecutor also reported that the journalist’s body was ripped apart and eradicated. These terrifying reports by Turkish officials purport that whoever killed Khashoggi intended to destroy all evidence of his remains.

The Saudi journalist had written many articles about his disfavoring of the ruling style of  crown prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, and had actually been exiled from his home country. For example, Khashoggi had written articles with titles such as “Saudi Arabia’s crown prince must restore dignity to his country by ending Yemen’s cruel war” and “Saudi Arabia’s women can finally drive. But the crown prince needs to do much more”. In Saudi Arabia, most of the media and press is controlled by the government. This is one of the reasons Khashoggi had moved to the United States and had been writing articles mostly concerning the Islamic world for The Washington Post, among other media outlets.

Unsurprisingly, these claims that the Saudis had something to do with Khashoggi’s death have been denied by the Saudi crown prince. United States’ President Donald Trump recently stated that he and his team would be looking into the investigation along with Turkish and other Saudi officials. Trump did, however, maintain that the United States’ relationship with Saudi Arabia is still ‘excellent’, which has since enraged many people, including members of U.S. Congress.

This shocking disappearance comes at a time when the United States is selling many weapons to the Saudi Arabian military for billions of dollars. Many of these weapons, in fact, are being used in the Saudi-led bombing of rebels in Yemen. This campaign has killed thousands of Yemeni civilians, and is very controversial. After the disappearance of this journalist, President Trump’s decision to continue to sell weapons to the Saudis has undoubtedly infuriated many people. Only time and further evidence will bring any resolution to the issue.