Eiffel Tower goes dark to honor murdered journalists one month after Khashoggi’s death

The Eiffel Tower went dark on Thursday night to honor murdered journalists around the world one month after Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) led the event in Paris on the eve of “International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists.”

{mosads}Since the beginning of the year, 77 journalists and members of the media around the world have died, according to RSF data.

Paris est aux côtés de @RSF_inter à la veille de la journée mondiale contre l’impunité des crimes commis contre les #journalistes. #Paris continuera de se battre pour la liberté de la #presse. #NoImpunity pic.twitter.com/sASNY3SCN5

— Patrick Klugman (@PKlugman) November 1, 2018

The Eiffel Tower turned dark tonight, as the city of Paris and @RSF_inter mourned the global crisis of impunity for the murder of journalists. #DaphneCaruanaGalizia #NoImpunity pic.twitter.com/kXwY9PpxVn

— Andrew Caruana Galizia (@acaruanagalizia) November 1, 2018

Khashoggi, who was murdered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October, is one of a total of 77 journalists and media workers who have been killed worldwide since the start of this year.
Ninety percent of crimes of violence against journalists go unpunished#NoImpunity pic.twitter.com/e5mgfds2so

— RSF (@RSF_inter) November 1, 2018

Christophe Deloire, secretary-general of RSF, said in a translated statement that Khashoggi’s killing shows how “there is no longer any limit in terms of the deliberate elimination of journalists.”

“By plunging the Eiffel Tower in the dark, the color of mourning, we pay tribute to our murdered colleagues,” Deloire said during a ceremony in front of the Eiffel Tower. “But the returned light also means to journalists’ killers that sooner or later justice will have to be done.”

The Eiffel Tower ceremony also honored Daphné Caruana Galizia, the Maltese investigative journalist killed last month after a bomb was placed under her car, as well as Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon who were murdered in Mali, RSF said in a statement.

Khashoggi’s death sparked international outrage and President Trump vowed that the U.S. will “get to the bottom” of the incident. 

The U.S.-based columnist and Saudi native who was critical of the Saudi royal family was last seen entering the consulate on Oct. 2 to retrieve documents for a marriage certificate.

The Saudi government originally said that Khashoggi left the consulate, but after weeks changed their story, claiming he died inside as a result of a physical altercation between the journalist and more than a dozen men.

Turkish officials have said they evidence that suggests the killing was planned and Khashoggi was murdered shortly after entering the consulate.

Saudi Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman has denied any involvement and 18 Saudis have been arrested in connection with Khashoggi’s death.

Trump has also said, however, that any U.S. will not jeopardize longstanding business relationships with Saudi Arabia during the course of the investigation.

“I don’t want to lose all of that investment that’s being made in our country. I don’t want to lose a million jobs,” Trump told reporters last month.