Five sentenced to death by Saudi court over Jamal Khashoggi's murder

Five people will be executed, three will be imprisoned for a total of 24 years, a statement read out at the public prosecutor's office in Riyadh pointed out

A Saudi court found eight people guilty for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a killing that strained relations with key allies, but didn’t have enough evidence to incriminate officials close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Five people will be executed, three will be imprisoned for a total of 24 years and three others were found not guilty, according to a statement read out at the public prosecutor’s office in Riyadh on Monday. In total, 11 people stood trial for the killing that took place at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul last year.

Saud al-Qahtani, removed from his role as a top adviser to Prince Mohammed after the killing, was interrogated but no evidence was found against him, according to Shalaan Shalaan, the deputy attorney general.

Ahmed Alassiri, a top intelligence official also removed from his position, was found not guilty by the court.

A prominent Saudi journalist and government insider, Khashoggi never considered himself a dissident. But in 2017, as a crackdown on domestic dissent under Prince Mohammed intensified, Khashoggi fled, fearing he could be detained. He settled in the US, penning a series of critical columns for the Washington Post.