LOS ANGELES: A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced five people to death and three more to prison for the assassination last year of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
Dissident journalist Khashoggi was savagely killed by Saudi government agents last year in the country's consulate in Istanbul.
The assassination drew widespread condemnation from around the world, and sparked several Hollywood players to review - and, in some cases, sever - their ties with Saudi Arabia and its de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has opened up the conservative Muslim country's entertainment industry.
A UN report said that the prince bore ultimate responsibility for the killing. He has denied any involvement.
The Saudi Arabian government itself has blamed rogue elements within its security forces.
Eleven people were prosecuted in a closed-door trial that human rights organisations say was opaque and below international judicial standards.
Khashoggi, 59, an outspoken critic of the Saudi crown prince and his rule of the oil-rich kingdom, was murdered in October 2018 after going inside the consulate in Istanbul to file some paperwork regarding his upcoming marriage.
Evidence compiled by Turkish investigators indicated that he was killed and his body dismembered by Saudi agents who had arrived in Turkey days before.
The Saudi government initially denied that Khashoggi was killed in its consulate. But in the face of mounting evidence not just of the murder but of official Saudi involvement, it changed tack and blamed the assassination on rogue security agents.
The brutal assassination sparked outrage around the world.
The crown prince, who basically controls all the levers of state in Saudi Arabia, has denied ordering Khashoggi's murder. But in a televised interview two months ago, he said that he bore "full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia, especially since it was committed by individuals working for the Saudi government." - Agencies/Asian News Network
Dissident journalist Khashoggi was savagely killed by Saudi government agents last year in the country's consulate in Istanbul.
The assassination drew widespread condemnation from around the world, and sparked several Hollywood players to review - and, in some cases, sever - their ties with Saudi Arabia and its de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has opened up the conservative Muslim country's entertainment industry.
A UN report said that the prince bore ultimate responsibility for the killing. He has denied any involvement.
The Saudi Arabian government itself has blamed rogue elements within its security forces.
Eleven people were prosecuted in a closed-door trial that human rights organisations say was opaque and below international judicial standards.
Khashoggi, 59, an outspoken critic of the Saudi crown prince and his rule of the oil-rich kingdom, was murdered in October 2018 after going inside the consulate in Istanbul to file some paperwork regarding his upcoming marriage.
Evidence compiled by Turkish investigators indicated that he was killed and his body dismembered by Saudi agents who had arrived in Turkey days before.
The Saudi government initially denied that Khashoggi was killed in its consulate. But in the face of mounting evidence not just of the murder but of official Saudi involvement, it changed tack and blamed the assassination on rogue security agents.
The brutal assassination sparked outrage around the world.
The crown prince, who basically controls all the levers of state in Saudi Arabia, has denied ordering Khashoggi's murder. But in a televised interview two months ago, he said that he bore "full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia, especially since it was committed by individuals working for the Saudi government." - Agencies/Asian News Network
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