If Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, believes the sentencing to death of five hapless stooges for the murder of the dissident journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, is the end of the affair, he is sorely mistaken.
The brutal killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October last year has shamed the kingdom, caused lasting harm to its global standing, and irretrievably damaged Prince Mohammed’s personal reputation.
In short, the whole business stinks – and the stench will not be dissipated, nor the noxious smell dispersed, by a travesty of a trial that bears little or no resemblance to a properly conducted legal proceeding.
This horrendous crime will remain a gross and indelible mark on the conscience of the House of Saud.The ponderous transactions of the criminal court in Riyadh, which handed down a total of eight guilty verdicts on Monday, lacked credibility from the outset.
The trial was held in conditions of utmost secrecy throughout, further undermining confidence – and encouraging suspicions that the accused were dispensable fall guys.
Those suspicions will only grow with confirmation that Prince Mohammed’s former senior adviser, Saud al-Qahtani, has been released without charge.
Saud al-Qahtani: who is fixer cleared by Saudis over Khashoggi murder?Qahtani had been with Prince Mohammed as he seized and consolidated his power from the time he was appointed deputy crown prince.
He had been known across the country’s ruling elite as the powerful heir’s domestic fixer, and was given a particular brief to crack down on opponents, perceived or real.
When Prince Mohammed ordered the detention of many of the kingdom’s business elite in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in late 2017, Qahtani was present when some of those detained were interrogated and is alleged to have pressured some to sign over their assets.
He was there again when at least two women who had campaigned for the right to drive were investigated after being imprisoned on charges of subverting the state.
Silencing dissent, and empowering the crown prince, became Qahtani’s core responsibility.
