By Ben Kerrigan-
An Emirati intelligence report by Saudi Arabia suggested that heirs of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi may be offered ”blood money” as part of the Saudi government’s efforts to close the case.
They could accept a financial settlement agreed between the parties involved, and thus forgo the right of revenge or “qisas”, the report adds. The report also suggests that the Saudi authorities plan to use the kingdom’s religious authorities to close the case.
The idea is supposedly endorsed by practices sanctioned by sharia and commonly followed in the Saudi judicial process associated with murders, where the parties opt to reconcile based on an amount of money.” Eleven Saudi’s are on trial for the brutal murder of Khashoggi, and five of them face the death penalty.
The report brought to the attention of The Eye Of Media.Com by Dubai based writing affiliates of Middle East Eye – one of the publications Khashoggi wrote for- suggests that Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman is eager to speed up court proceedings against the murder squad sent to kill Jamal Khashoggi, before Donald Trump’s re-election.
Mohammed bin Salman is widely believed to have ordered the killing of the Washington Post journalist who was very critical about they way the prince ran his government. Bin Salman has strongly denied the allegations.
“It was a wise step for Riyadh to move quickly to close the case and indict those responsible before the start of the American presidential election,” the document says. “Otherwise the killing could have been turned into one of the presidential debate topics.”
“The press release emphasised that the financial rewards from the government were not part of a settlement, but a generous assistance from the government and a gesture of kindness to its citizens.” The report also states that international pressure to convict those responsible led to political advisory committees to recommend the government announce legal procedures for those accused.