Saudi Arabia sentences 5 to death over murder of journalist Khashoggi

RIYADH－Saudi Arabia's public prosecution service said on Monday that five people were sentenced to death for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi last year.

A further three people were sentenced for a combined 24 years, according to a statement read by the attorney general's office on Saudi state TV. No individual breakdown for the sentencing was given.

The court held nine sessions in the Khashoggi case and the verdict was issued in the 10th session.

Shalaan al-Shalaan, the Saudi deputy public prosecutor and spokesman, reading out the verdict in the trial, said the court dismissed charges against the remaining three of the 11 people who had been on trial, finding them not guilty.

"We found that Khashoggi's murder was not premeditated," Al-Shalaan said.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, was murdered in October last year in what Riyadh called a "rogue" operation, tipping the kingdom into one of its worst diplomatic crises and tarnishing the reputation of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The 59-year-old Saudi insider-turned-critic was strangled and his body cut into pieces by a 15-man Saudi squad inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, according to Turkish officials. His remains have not been found.

The killing caused a global uproar. The CIA and some Western governments have said they believe Prince Mohammed ordered the killing, but Saudi officials say he had no role.

Saudi prosecutors had said deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri oversaw Khashoggi's killing and that he was advised by royal court insider Saud al-Qahtani.

Only Assiri appeared in the court hearings, according to Western sources.

Qahtani was investigated but not indicted "due to insufficient evidence" and Assiri was investigated and charged but eventually acquitted on the same grounds, according to the statement.

In Washington, a unanimous Senate resolution in 2018 held that Prince Mohammed was "responsible for the murder", despite Saudi insistence he had no involvement in the operation.

US President Donald Trump has condemned the killing but has stood by the crown prince and defended US-Saudi ties. Washington has sanctioned 17 Saudis suspected of being involved, though not Prince Mohammed.

Xinhua