5 sentenced to death in Khashoggi murder

A court in Saudi Arabia on Monday sentenced five people to death for the killing of Washington Post occasional columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul last year by a team of Saudi agents.

The news of the sentences was reported by State TV.

Three others were sentenced to prison for a total of 24 years.

All can appeal.

Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman was under fire because several of those convicted worked closely with him — allegedly.

The trial was conducted in secrecy.

Mr. Khashoggi wrote occasional propaganda pieces for the Washington Post. He was anti-Trump and anti-bin Salman.

The death of Mr. Khashoggi was highly politicized and used to attack the President and sever all ties with Saudi Arabia.

The Washington Post admitted in an article that Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi embassy in Turkey, was writing propaganda for a Qatar-funded organization. Qatar is Saudi Arabia’s enemy. They’re no friends to the U.S. or Israel either.

It appeared that Khashoggi was a foreign agent indoctrinating Americans. The purpose would have been to turn U.S. policy against Saudi Arabia and turn public opinion in favor of The Muslim Brotherhood.

According to WaPo, “Text messages between Khashoggi and an executive at Qatar Foundation International show that the executive, Maggie Mitchell Salem, at times shaped the columns he submitted to The Washington Post, proposing topics, drafting material and prodding him to take a harder line against the Saudi government. Khashoggi also appears to have relied on a researcher and translator affiliated with the organization, which promotes Arabic-language education in the United States.”

At one point, CNN reported that Mr. Khashoggi was trying to overthrow the Saudi government. That is treason in Saudi Arabia.

Those admissions came in December 2018, about two months after his death and after all the rants against Donald Trump and the Crown Prince died down.

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