TEHRAN - According to sources connected to senior members of the Saudi intelligence apparatus who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity, at least three members of the Saudi hit squad who were sentenced before a Saudi court (in a trial broadly condemned as a sham), of murdering Jamal Khashoggi are living and working “in seven-star accommodation” inside a government-run security compound in Riyadh.

According to the report, the assassins are believed to be staying in villas and buildings run by Saudi Arabia’s State Security agency and not its infamous prisons. Family members are reportedly allowed to visit the men, and the "seven-star" housing units include gyms and offices.

If they are enjoying such freedom of movement, then it will be starkly at odds with assurances provided by the Saudis that the perpetrators are facing tough punishment.

Salah al-Tubaigy, the forensic expert who dismembered Khashoggi, was seen inside the compound. Mustafa al-Madani, the man who posed as Khashoggi's body double, and Mansour Abahussein, the lead operative, were also spotted in sightings between 2019 and 2020.

Meanwhile, over the last two years, witnesses have been reported to have seen caterers and gardeners visiting the men.

Khashoggi was a Saudi-born U.S. resident and a reporter who was a frequent critic of Saudi Crown Mohamad Bin Salman. He was murdered and dismembered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul three years ago by a team of men linked to the crown prince.

A Turkish court is currently trying 26 Saudi nationals connected to the murder in absentia, with the next trial date set for July 8.

Government officials in Turkey, along with UN officials and the CIA, backed up the now widely believe allegations that Khashoggi's body was dismembered with a bone saw.

His body has never been found.