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Court Sentences Five To Death Over Khashoggi’s Murder

    Advertisement Five people have been sentenced to death over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but two top figures investigated over the killing … Continue reading Court Sentences Five To Death Over Khashoggi’s Murder


A woman holds a portrait of missing journalist and Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi reading “Jamal Khashoggi is missing since October 2” during a demonstration in front of the Saudi Arabian consulate on October 9, 2018 in Istanbul. Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, vanished last on October 2 after entering the Saudi Arabian consulate to receive official documents ahead of his marriage to a Turkish woman. A Turkish government source told AFP at the weekend that the police believe the journalist “was killed by a team especially sent to Istanbul and who left the same day”. OZAN KOSE / AFP

 

A woman holds a portrait of missing journalist and Riyadh critic Jamal Khashoggi reading “Jamal Khashoggi
OZAN KOSE / AFP

 

Five people have been sentenced to death over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but two top figures investigated over the killing have been exonerated, Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor said Monday.

“The court issued death sentences on five men who directly took part in the killing,” the prosecutor said in a statement.

Saudi prosecutors had said deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri oversaw the Washington Post columnist’s killing in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in October 2018 and that he was advised by the royal court’s media czar Saud al-Qahtani.

However, Qahtani was investigated but not indicted “due to insufficient evidence” and Assiri was investigated and charged but eventually acquitted on the same grounds, the statement said.

Of the 11 unnamed individuals indicted in the case, five were sentenced to death, three face jail terms totalling 24 years, and the others were acquitted.

The prosecutor said that the Riyadh court hearing the case held a total of nine sessions attended by representatives of the international community as well as Khashoggi’s relatives.

“We found that Khashoggi’s murder was not premeditated,” the statement said.

AFP