Saudi Arabia sentences five to death for murder of Jamal Khashoggi

Saudi Arabia has sentenced five people to death and three more to jail terms over the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in October 2018.

The country's public prosecutor said on Dec. 23, Saud al-Qahtani, a former high-profile Saudi royal adviser, was investigated but not charged and was released.

Khashoggi, a columnist, and a leading critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 to obtain documents for his pending marriage with a Turkish national, but he never left the mission.

Audiotapes that the Turkish government later shared with the world verified that he had been killed and then dismembered by 15 Saudi hitmen.

The incident sparked an international outcry and eventually a United Nations investigation was launched.