‘I can’t breathe’ — Jamal Khashoggi’s last words
The murdered journalist recognised one of his attackers, reports CNN, and he is heard speaking to him in the gruesome audio recording of his final moments
Istanbul — Journalist Jamal Khashoggi repeatedly told his killers “I can’t breathe” during his final moments in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, CNN reported on Monday. Quoting a source who said they had read the full translated transcript of an audio recording, CNN said that Khashoggi recognised one of the men, General Maher Mutreb, who told him: “You are coming back”. Khashoggi replied: “You can’t do that ... people are waiting outside.” His Turkish fiancée Hatice Cengiz waited for hours outside the consulate on October 2 and, when he did not return, contacted Turkish authorities about his disappearance. There was no further dialogue in the relatively short transcript, prepared by Turkish authorities, CNN’s source said. As people set upon Khashoggi, he started fighting for air, repeating, “I can’t breathe” at least three times. The transcript then used singular words to describe the noises, including “scream”, “gasping”, “saw”, and “cutting”. Turkish sources told Reuters a bone sa...
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