‘Wealth and lies’: Furious fiancee of murdered journalist slams Greg Norman

The fiancee of a murdered journalist has slammed Greg Norman for his tone-deaf comments that have sparked international outrage.

Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancee was furious with Greg Norman over his recent comments about Saudi Arabia.

The New York Post reports Norman, who is the head of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf series looking to rival the PGA Tour, weighed in yesterday on Khashoggi, the Washington Post reporter brutally murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018.

Last year the United States government released a classified intelligence report which concluded Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, was responsible for the murder.

“This whole thing about Saudi Arabia and Khashoggi and human rights, talk about it, but also talk about the good that the country is doing in changing its culture,” Norman said of the murder.

“Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn by those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”

Norman was slammed for his comments and Khashoggi’s Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, also lambasted the golf legend, telling the Telegraph in the UK the remarks were “so hurtful.”

“Would you say that if it was your loved one? How can we go forward when those who ordered the murder are still unpunished, and continue to try to buy back their legitimacy?” she said.

“We should not fall for their wealth and lies, and lose our morals and common humanity. We should all be insisting on the truth and justice; only then can we look forward with hope and dignity.”

Hatice Cengiz hit out at Greg Norman. (Photo by Stefano Montesi - Corbis/ Getty Images)

Amnesty International also criticised Norman over his “wrong and seriously misguided” remarks about Saudi Arabia’s human rights record and Khashoggi’s murder, as the organisations’s UK head of campaigns Felix Jakens said the rebel golf tour was another example of “sportswashing”.

“Greg Norman’s remarks that the Saudi government’s brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi and its attempted cover-up were a ‘mistake’ are wrong and seriously misguided,” Jakens said.

“Far from trying to ‘move on’, the Saudi authorities have attempted to sweep their crimes under the carpet, avoiding justice and accountability at every turn.

“The regime’s human rights record is an abomination — from its murder of Khashoggi to recent mass executions and the situation for LGBTI+ people, which continues to be dire.

“The LIV Golf Invitational Series is yet one more event in a series of sportswashing exercises that the Saudi authorities are using to clean its blood-soaked image.”

Norman isn’t winning many friends with his Saudi venture. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Norman’s comments about Khashoggi’s murder came after he slammed the PGA Tour on Wednesday for “perpetuating its illegal monopoly” when it emerged officials won’t grant releases for players to take part in the opening event of his Saudi-backed tour in London in June.

Just hours after Norman, the chief executive and commissioner of LIV Golf, declared he’d been given an extra $2.9b to fund events in 2023 and 2024 for the new tour, it emerged the PGA Tour had told players they would not be released to play in the first $25m event.

With AFP and the New York Post