Saudi Seeks Death Penalty For Five Accused In Khashoggi Killing

Saudi prosecutors said on Thursday that they have requested the death penalty for five people who they say were involved in murdering Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

A total of 11 people were charged, the Saudi Public Prosecutor's office said, adding that the five people facing capital punishment were directly involved in "ordering and executing the crime", according to a report in CNN.

In a recent development when voice recordings came to light, Turkish officials on Tuesday said they played the recordings  to the US but did not hand them over.

"We played the voice recording linked to the murder with anyone who wanted," Erdogan told Turkish journalists aboard a plane returning from Paris where he attended commemorations at the weekend marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

"The recording is really disastrous," he said in quotes published by Sabah.

"When the Saudi intelligence agent listened, he was shocked and said this could only be done by someone who got heroin." Khashoggi's body has never been found, but Sabah reported on Saturday that his killers poured his remains down the drain after dissolving them in acid.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, was killed inside the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul on October 2 after he went there to get documents for his forthcoming marriage.

The Saudis had presented conflicting stories about the journalist's death, initially denying any knowledge before arguing that a group of rogue operators were responsible for his death.

After the kingdom admitted that Khashoggi was killed in its consulate in Turkey, five high-ranking officials were dismissed, including Bin Salman's media chief and the deputy head of the Saudi intelligence service, and 18 people were arrested.

(IANS)