The Saudi Arabian government categorically rejected the conclusions of the US National Intelligence regarding the murder of journalist Jamil Khashkadzhi, according to which the operation to kidnap or kill him was approved by Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud. This reaction of the Kingdom's Foreign Ministry on Saturday, February 27, was reported by the Al-Arabiya TV channel, TASS reports.
In a statement, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry called the findings of the US intelligence report about the kingdom's authorities “offensive and incorrect” and stated that they “could not be accepted in any way.”
The ministry also added that the murder of Hashkuji was “a flagrant violation of the laws and values” of the country and that the kingdom's authorities took all necessary judicial measures to investigate the incident and bring those responsible to justice.
On February 26, US National Intelligence released a report in which it accused the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, of endorsing an operation to kidnap or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Hashkuji. After that, the US administration imposed visa sanctions on 76 citizens of Saudi Arabia, who, according to the State Department, “threatened dissidents abroad, appeared in the murder of Hashkuji, but not only in it.”
On September 7, 2020, a court in Saudi Arabia sentenced eight people to prison for the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Hashkuji. The judges changed their minds to execute the murderers – it was assumed that five of them would be subjected to capital punishment. Five people were sentenced to 20 years in prison, one convict will spend ten years in prison, two more – seven years. The journalist's bride called this court decision a farce. In October, she filed a lawsuit against the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, accusing him of involvement in the crime.
Hashkuji disappeared on October 2, 2018 after a visit to the Saudi Consulate General in Istanbul. He went there to obtain documents that would help him file a divorce and remarry a Turkish woman. Turkish media, citing sources in law enforcement and investigative agencies, reported that the authorities have confirmation that Hashkuji was brutally tortured in the consulate building and then killed.
