in major social reforms to the kingdom, but
Khashoggi was writing columns in the Post that
highlighted the darker side of the crown prince’s
simultaneous clampdown on dissent.
The Post was harshly critical of the Saudi
government after Khashoggi’s killing and
demanded accountability in a highly public
campaign that ran in the paper for weeks after
his death.
“The information we have received suggests
the possible involvement of the Crown Prince
in surveillance of Mr. Bezos, in an effort to
influence, if not silence, The Washington Post’s
reporting on Saudi Arabia,” the independent U.N.
experts said.
They said that at a time when Saudi Arabia was
“supposedly investigating the killing of Mr.
Khashoggi, and prosecuting those it deemed
responsible, it was clandestinely waging a
massive online campaign against Mr. Bezos and
Amazon targeting him principally as the owner
of The Washington Post.”
The U.N. experts published their statement after
reviewing a full report conducted by a team of
investigators hired by Bezos. The experts said
they reviewed the 2019 digital forensic analysis
of Bezos’ iPhone, which was made available
to them as U.N. special rapporteurs. The
independent experts are appointed by the U.N.
Human Rights Council.
The digital forensic investigation that was
commissioned by Bezos and shared with the
U.N. experts assessed with “medium to high
confidence” that his phone was infiltrated on
May 1, 2018, via the MP4 video file sent from the
crown prince’s WhatsApp account.