RIYADH: A Saudi national that was held in France for allegedly having connections to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been released after authorities said he was misidentified.
Khalid Al-Otaibi was arrested in Paris because he had a similar name to one of those accused of the 2018 murder of Khashoggi.
Paris General Prosecutor said that after a day of checks that an arrest issued by Turkey did not apply to the Saudi.
The Saudi Embassy in Paris said that they had visited Al-Otaibi in custody and confirmed the citizen was release on Wednesday evening and was heading back to the Kingdom.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry earlier said the arrested individual linked to the murder of Jamal Khashoggi “has nothing to do with the case,” and called for his “immediate release.”
“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 the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Republic of 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 quesiton,” a statement released on Tuesday said.
“Therefore, the Kingdom's embassy expects his immediate release.
“The Embassy would also like to reaffirm that the Saudi judiciary has issued verdicts against all of those who paritcipated in the heinous murder of Jamal Khashoggi, all of them are currently serving their sentences,” it added.
The journalist was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul while attempting to get documents to marry his Turkish fiancee.
Five of the 11 on trial for the murder of Khashoggi have been sentenced to death; three others were sentenced to varying prison terms and the remaining three were acquitted.
