ANKARA

Ankara will continue efforts to shed light on the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Turkey’s communications director said after a "scandalous" Saudi court ruling on the case Monday.

"The Saudi court reached a scandalous verdict today after months of secret hearings on the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi," Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter.

A Saudi court on Monday sentenced five people to death for taking part in the murder of Khashoggi in a trial of 11 people.

Saudi Deputy Public Prosecutor and spokesman Shalaan al-Shalaan said three people had been handed jail terms totaling 24 years in prison for their role in covering up the crime and violating the law.

Al-Shalaan said the court dismissed charges against three other suspects and found them not guilty, including former royal adviser Saud al-Qahtani, former consul general in Istanbul Mohammed al-Oteibi and Ahmed Assiri, the former intelligence deputy chief.

Altun blasted the verdict, which he said "granted immunity" for perpetrators who "dispatched a death squad to Istanbul on a private jet", "signed Khashoggi's death warrant", disposed of his body and sought to sweep the murder "under the rug".

"To claim that a handful of intelligence operatives committed this murder is to mock the world’s intelligence — to say the least. Turkey will continue its efforts to shed light on this incident," he stressed.

Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post and a U.S. resident, was murdered after entering the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 of last year on a visit to pick up paperwork for his forthcoming marriage.