Saudi officials say wrong individual detained by France in Khashoggi murder case

Saudi Arabia has clarified that the person detained in France in relation to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi has “nothing to do with the case”.

The Saudi citizen – carrying a passport in the name of Khaled Alotaibi – was arrested by French police on Tuesday at Paris airport as he was about to board a flight to Riyadh.

Police said that an individual with the same name had an international arrest warrant issued by Turkey through Interpol for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Khashoggi.

“Regarding the arrest of a Saudi citizen on the grounds of being a suspect in the murder of the late citizen Jamal Khashoggi, the embassy of Saudi Arabia to France would like to clarify that what was reported in the media is incorrect, and that the person who was arrested has nothing to do with the case in question. Therefore, the kingdom’s embassy expects his immediate release,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

“The embassy would also like to reaffirm that the Saudi judiciary has issued verdicts against all of those who participated in the heinous murder of Jamal Khashoggi, all of them are currently serving their sentences.”

Read: Khashoggi: Saudi Arabia ‘completely rejects’ report; UAE supports kingdom

In September last year, five men were sentenced to 20 years in prison, one was condemned to 10 years and two were given seven-year terms for their involvement in the murder.

Five of the men had been sentenced to death in 2019, but Khashoggi’s son announced in May 2020 that his family had forgiven the killers, paving the way under Islamic legal interpretations for a less severe punishment.