Five people were sentenced to death Monday over Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder, but two top aides to the powerful crown prince were exonerated as authorities said the killing was not premeditated.

Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, was murdered in October last year in what Riyadh called a "rogue" operation, tipping it into one of its worst diplomatic crises and tarnishing the reputation of de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The verdict underscores an effort to draw a line under the crisis as the kingdom, widely condemned over its human rights record, seeks to reboot its international image ahead of next year's G20 summit in Riyadh. "The public prosecution's investigation showed that the killing was not premeditated at the start of this mission" but rather that it occurred in the heat of the moment, Saudi deputy prosecutor Shalaan al-Shalaan told a press conference.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019