The public prosecutor in Saudi Arabia requested the death punishment on Thursday against five of the eleven men presumed of involvement in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

According to critics, it is a slow process that leaves the primary responsible parties out of business. Saudi Arabia is still waiting for evidence from Turkey, and the interrogations of some suspects are still ongoing.

The Saudi royal family initially denied that Khashoggi, who disappeared during a visit to the Saudi consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul, had been murdered. Sometime later, the country admitted that the journalist did not leave the embassy alive. There is still no trace of his body.

According to the Turkish government and various Western intelligence agencies, including the American, it is clear that the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman – the actual ruler of the country – ordered the murder. The Saudi government denies that.