Two months after Saudi authorities intercepted communication between journalist Jamal Khashoggi and activist Omar Abdulaziz, Khashoggi was killed inside Saudi Arabia’s Istanbul consulate, CNN reported.
"The hacking of my phone played a major role in what happened to Jamal, I am really sorry to say," Abdulaziz told CNN. "The guilt is killing me."
Khashoggi did not refrain from criticizing Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in over 400 WhatsApp messages with Abdulaziz in which the pair discussed opposition projects.
"He loves force, oppression and needs to show them off," Khashoggi wrote about Salman, "but tyranny has no logic."
"The more victims he eats, the more he wants. I will not be surprised if the oppression will reach even those who are cheering him on," Khashoggi said in a message sent in May.
Dubbing Salman a “beast,” Khashoggi and Abdulaziz started organizing an online youth movement to hold the Saudi administration accountable.
"[Jamal] believed that MBS is the issue, is the problem and he said this kid should be stopped," Abdulaziz told CNN.
Once Khashoggi became aware that his conversations with Abdulaziz were hacked, he wrote “God help us.”
Abdulaziz on Sunday filed a lawsuit against the NSO Group, an Israeli company responsible for the software he says hacked his phone, CNN reported.
“NSO should be held accountable in order to protect the lives of political dissidents, journalists and human rights activists,” said Alaa Mahajna, Abdulaziz’s lawyer.
Court papers state that they will argue that access to the communication between Abdulaziz and Khashoggi “contributed in a significant manner to the decision to murder Mr. Khashoggi.”
The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab noted that Abdulaziz’s phone was hacked by military-grade spyware.
The spyware was invented by Israel’s NSO Group, and is used at the request of Saudi authorities.
Two government officials had also invited Abdulaziz to visit the Saudi embassy, saying Salman himself was offering him a job.
"We have come to you with a message from Mohammed bin Salman and his assurance to you," one of the men said to Abdulaziz.
The officials also mention Saud al-Qahtani, a former top aide for Salman who was fired for links to the Khashoggi murder.
"If Saud al-Qathani himself hears your name, he will immediately know and you can meet with Prince Mohammed directly," says one other man.
Abdulaziz followed Khashoggi’s advice and did not visit the consulate, instead only meeting the Saudi officials in public places.
On Oct. 2, Khashoggi went against his own advice and entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, a visit that cost him his life.
Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist working for The Washington Post, was killed and dismembered shortly after he entered the Saudi consulate.
After weeks of saying he had left the consulate alive, the Saudi administration later admitted he was killed there, blaming his death on a group of rogue Saudi operatives.
