The Council of the District of Columbia unanimously approved the renaming of the street outside the Saudi Embassy after Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist who was murdered in 2018.
The Jamal Khashoggi Way Designation Act, which passed Tuesday, would change the name of this northwest segment of New Hampshire Avenue to Jamal Khashoggi Way. The measure needs to be signed by Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser and undergo a review by Congress before the street name change can go into effect.
"Jamal Khashoggi knew that by shining a light on Saudi Arabia and seeking truth, he risked his freedom and, indeed, his life," Washington Councilwoman Brooke Pinto said in a statement, according to NPR. "This name change demonstrates the values of District residents of a free and independent press."
Khashoggi was killed and dismembered by a team of more than a dozen Saudi operatives in the kingdom’s Turkish Consulate in October 2018. His slaying prompted immediate backlash from Congress and the international community, and the CIA soon determined that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered Khashoggi’s murder.
The Saudi king denied he ordered the killing but has said he "bears responsibility" for it. The Saudi government maintains Khashoggi was killed in a "rogue operation " gone wrong. Saudi Arabia conducted an internal investigation, resulting in the arrests of eight people the Saudi government claims are responsible for Khashoggi's killing. Five of these men were sentenced to death but were later reduced to imprisonment.
The bill to change the street name received support from democracy and human rights organizations, including Democracy for the Arab World Now, a nonprofit group founded by Khashoggi not long before he was killed.
"Renaming the street in front of the Saudi Embassy in honor of Khashoggi will be an important gesture in support of accountability for his brutal murder," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the organization's executive director.
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The passage of the act came during a week where the spotlight was again on Khashoggi's murder, when French officials arrested a Saudi man they believed played a part in Khashoggi's death. However, the man was later released after it was determined there was a case of mistaken identity.