According to Chalaan al Chalaan, the Saudi prosecutor, five people were sentenced to death on Monday, December 23, in the trial of the murderers of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, murdered in October 2018 at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
"The court sentenced five men to death who were directly involved in the assassination," said the prosecutor, who added that two of the main suspects had been charged.
Indeed, no charges have been brought against Saoud al-Qahtani, a close adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Former intelligence number two, General Ahmed al-Assiri, was also acquitted for lack of evidence.
A total of eleven suspects were prosecuted in secret proceedings. Of these eleven, five were sentenced to death, three to prison terms totaling 24 years, and the rest were acquitted.
Murder "was not planned"
After multiple contradictory statements, the Saudi authorities acknowledged that Jamal Khashoggi, who had gone into exile in the United States, was killed and dismembered on October 2, 2018 by Saudi agents who, according to them, acted on their own initiative.
According to a statement from the Saudi Arabian Attorney General, the Riyadh court in charge of the case held a total of nine hearings in the presence of representatives of the international community as well as those close to Jamal Khashoggi. "We have concluded that Khashoggi's murder was not planned," said the statement.
In June, a UN commission of inquiry announced that it had evidence of the Crown Prince's personal involvement, which the CIA and several Western countries consider to have been behind the murder.
The prince admitted at the end of September to bear responsibility for the murder, but without acknowledging having given the order. "It happened under my leadership. I take full responsibility, because it happened under my leadership," he said in a documentary aired on the first anniversary of the death of the Saudi journalist. .
With AFP
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