Middle East Eye – The United Kingdom has announced sanctions on 19 Saudi Arabians suspected of murdering Jamal Khashoggi, including former top royal aide Saud al-Qahtani.
Qahtani is listed alongside Ahmed al-Assiri, former deputy head of military intelligence, and Maher al-Mutreb, who served as bodyguard to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said the new sanctions regime, which also listed Russians and North Koreans, would initially target individuals or organisations accused of human rights violations around the world, along with those who profited financially from those abuses.
He told parliamentarians that the new sanctions would make it “crystal clear to those who abuse their power to inflict unimagineable suffering: we will not look the other way, you cannot set for in this country and we will seize your blood-drenched, ill-gotten gains if you try.”
Khashoggi, a former columnist for the Washington Post and Middle East Eye, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
Five people have been sentenced to death for his killing in Saudi Arabia, but a further 20 are currently on trial in Turkey. Among those are two former aides to Mohammed bin Salman.
Previously, the UK had imposed sanctions jointly with other EU countries.
But with the country officially leaving the multi-national bloc this year, the British government is introducing a new sanctions framework.
