Five Saudi officials are facing the death penalty after being accused of murdering journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Shalaan al-Shalaan, the kingdom's deputy public prosecutor, revealed on Thursday that 21 people are in custody over the killing and charges have been brought against 11 of them.
Al-Shalaan requested the death penalty for five who 'are charged with ordering and committing the crime and for the appropriate sentences for the other indicted individuals'.
But he exonerated Saudi's de-facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman by laying ultimate blame for Khashoggi's killing at the feet of two lesser officials.
Executions in Saudi Arabia are usually carried out publicly by beheading with a sword.
Shalaan said the highest-level official implicated in Khashoggi's killing is former deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri, who gave the order for him to be repatriated to Saudi Arabia from Turkey, where he was living in exile.
He added that it was 'the head of the negotiating team' dispatched to seize Khashoggi who then gave the order to kill him, without naming the man.
Shalaan denied that Salman had any knowledge of the killing. The Crown Prince has blamed it on 'rogue elements' of the Saudi state.
That was a claim backed by foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir who said bin Salman has 'absolutely nothing to do' with the death.
'Sometimes mistakes happen... sometimes people exceed their authority,' he said before adding Saudi was taking steps 'to make sure this doesn't happen again.'