Turkey Prosecutor Indicts 20 Saudi Suspects for Khashoggi Killing

Istanbul prosecutors said Wednesday they had prepared an indictment against 20 suspects over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, including a close aide to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a former deputy head of general intelligence.

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The indictment accuses former deputy head of Saudi Arabia’s general intelligence Ahmed al-Asiri and former royal court adviser Saud al-Qahtani of having “instigated premeditated murder with monstrous intent.”

The senior officials accused by Turkey are still free, although both Qahtani and Asiri were dismissed from their positions after Khashoggi’s killing. Saudi Arabia’s media ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The list also includes the 15 suspected killers who flew to Turkey to carry out the operation and three intelligence officials.

It says the others suffocated Khashoggi, who had grown increasingly critical of Prince Mohammed’s actions, after agreeing in advance that he should be killed if he did not return to Saudi Arabia with them.

Khashoggi, a columnist of the Washington Post, was a vocal critic of MBS’ policies. He disappeared on Oct. 2 and was murdered by the Kingdom during questioning after coming into the mission's building to ask for a marriage-related document. 

After worldwide pressure, Saudi Arabian prosecutors indicted 11 suspects in the murder. In December, a Saudi court sentenced five people to death and three to jail over Khashoggi's murder. But a Saudi prosecutor said there was no evidence connecting Qahtani to the killing and the court dismissed the charges against Asiri.

At the same officials have empathically rejected accusations that Crown Prince ordered the killing. Saudi Arabia initially denied any involvement in or knowledge of Khashoggi’s death but later changed its position multiple times.

However, the CIA concluded that the Crown Prince ordered Khashoggi's killing at the Istanbul consulate. President Donald Trump prioritized U.S.-Saudi relations, saying the ties between the countries were too important to casually pursue findings of the investigation, but at the same time dubbing it as, "one of the worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups."