Five people have been sentenced to death in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but the two most senior officials implicated in the murder were cleared of wrongdoing because of “insufficient evidence,” Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor announced Monday.
The convicted defendants have not been named. Three others were sentenced to jail terms totaling 24 years.
Khashoggi, who wrote opinion columns for the Washington Post, was killed after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. He was one of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s most prominent critics.
The journalist traveled to the consulate to obtain documents to remarry. He was then killed by a team of agents who flew from Saudi Arabia and dismembered his body, according to Turkish and Saudi prosecutors.
The CIA determined last year that Salman had ordered the killing, though Saudi Arabia has insisted he had no knowledge of the plot.
Saudi authorities said they were investigating what roles two senior aides to the crown prince had in what they called a “rogue” plot, but the two were exonerated Monday.
The trial, which was closed to the general public, lasted nearly a year. Human rights groups warned the secrecy would increase the chances of top officials escaping charges.
“The complete lack of transparency and the Saudi government’s refusal to cooperate with independent investigators suggests that this was merely a sham trial,” Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan said in a statement. “Those ultimately responsible, at the highest level of the Saudi government, continue to escape responsibility for the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi.”
