Almost five years after the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a suspected mastermind of the crime has resurfaced in Saudi Arabia.
Saud al-Qahtani, a former aide to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, can be seen in videos that went viral on social media on Sunday.
The videos show him being warmly received by his hosts. Unconfirmed reports say he was visiting his uncle in the coastal city of Jeddah on the Red Sea.
It was unclear exactly when the videos were recorded. However, many observers of Saudi affairs see this as al-Qahtani’s first public appearance since going underground in the wake of the Khashoggi murder.
A special commando from Riyadh brutally killed Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. The crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia recognised the crime but denied ordering the killing.
The UN Special Rapporteur at the time, Agnes Callamard, on the other hand, concluded that there was credible evidence of possible personal responsibility on the part of the crown prince.
Al-Qahtani was responsible for media affairs at the royal court and was fired the night Riyadh admitted Khashoggi’s death. Not least because of his role as a close advisor to the crown prince, observers concluded that the crown prince must also be involved in the case.
According to the Saudi prosecution, al-Qahtani was questioned but not charged in the kingdom due to lack of evidence.
In an Istanbul trial on the Khashoggi case, al-Qahtani was one of two main accused in 2020. However, the Turkish court later surprisingly dropped the case and transferred the trial to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Qahtani’s appearance provoked mixed reactions on social media, with some calling him a “patriot.” Another wrote that all people were waiting to see him. Others meanwhile called him as a “criminal” and a “murderer.
“He has molested female detainees and tortured prisoners,” opposition journalist Turki Shalhub wrote.
Al-Qahtani allegedly supervised the torture of the well-known activist Ludschain al-Hathlul, as her sister Lina reported.
“He asked Ludjain: ‘Do you want life imprisonment or the death penalty?’,” she said.