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.
Prosecutor Shalaan al-Shalaan says Saud al-Qahtani, a former high-profile adviser to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman, was investigated but not charged and was released.
Khashoggi was a US resident and a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The Saudi writer and Washington Post columnist was killed inside the Saudi consulate after he entered the building on October 2, 2018 to obtain documentation certyifying he had divorced his ex-wife so he could remarry.
After weeks of repeated denials that it had anything to do with his disappearance, the kingdom eventually acknowledged that its officials were behind the gruesome murder. The whereabouts of his dismembered body are still unknown.
Turkish intelligence agencies concluded that he was killed in a premeditated murder, while the CIA has reportedly found that Prince Salman likely ordered the killing.
But Riyadh has consistently denied that the crown prince was involved.
