The following excerpt is from a speech by Stig Dagerman given at a rally in 1947 to protest the murder of Bulgarian opposition leader Nicola Petkov. In the translation below, Petkov’s name has been replaced by that of Jamal Khashoggi.
“… Each and everyone who takes the life of an opponent attacks not only this individual, but through him or her all opponents, and still more: the core of what it means to be in opposition: to exercise one’s free will, free thought and freedom of expression.
By killing [Khashoggi], [MBS] and his cohorts didn’t only take the life of [Jamal Khashoggi] the man, but of the freedoms to think, believe and act accorded to any self-respecting individual – those very freedoms that many of us, deemed insufficiently “realistic” or “real-politically minded”, hold as invaluable to our way of life. This means that everybody who views these freedoms as non-negotiable, must protest the murder of [Jamal Khashoggi] not as an isolated gruesome deed by a distant country of little consequence, but as a violent act committed against ourselves and our beliefs in human rights.”
From Stig Dagerman, “Om fallet Petkov”, 1947. (Translation by Lo Dagerman)