'An unprecedented gathering': Saudi activists unite in US to discuss ending kingdom's autocracy
Inside a ballroom at the Gaylord Convention Center overlooking the National Harbor outside of Washington DC, Saudi dissidents and activists from all over the diaspora came together for an in-person conference to discuss the elusive prospects of a representative government in Saudi Arabia chosen by its citizens.
Since coming to power in 2017, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has launched a crackdown on political dissidents, human rights advocates, and critics of the government.
The attention towards the campaign of repression reached a climax when Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi columnist for the Washington Post and Middle East Eye, was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey on 2 October 2018.
There was worldwide outrage over the murder, and though the crown prince denied responsibility for the murder, the Biden administration in 2021 released an intelligence memo stating that the killing could not have taken place without the crown prince knowing.
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