In Saudi Arabia, five of the eleven suspects are for the murder sentenced to death on journalist Jamal Khashoggi. A close associate of the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman goes free.

“A farce,” says the UN rapporteur on the process. Khashoggi was killed more than a year ago during a visit to the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul.

In October last year, the critical Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi visited the Saudi consulate. He did not return alive. The man was killed in the consulate, and his body was never recovered.

Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Hatice Cengiz, the fiancé of Khashoggi, were at a commemoration in the Turkish city of Istanbul, where the journalist was murdered.

Saudi Arabia said the murder had been committed by criminals and suspected eleven people. Five of them were sentenced to death today. Three others were sentenced to 24 years in jail for allegedly covering the crime.

However, the United Nations called the murder an “extrajudicial execution” and says Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is behind the murder. Human rights organisations see the trial that took place in the Saudi capital Riyadh as a sham trial.

One of the people suspected was a close adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

According to the American intelligence service CIA and a UN expert, he was the man who ordered the murder, which he denies. The man went free today because of “lack of evidence”. No charges against him were withheld.