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Eight unidentified defendants were sentenced to prison terms of between seven and 20 years in a verdict that comes after the sons of journalist Jamal Khashoggi “pardoned” the killers in May, paving the way for less severe punishment. .
FILE: Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in May 2010. Image: AFP.
RIYADH – A Saudi court on Monday overturned five death sentences for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a final ruling that was convicted by his fiancee and criticized by a UN expert as a “parody of justice.”
Eight unidentified defendants received prison terms of between seven and 20 years in a verdict that comes after Khashoggi’s sons “pardoned” the murderers in May, paving the way for less severe punishment.
The court ruling underscores Saudi Arabia’s efforts to draw a line under the October 2018 assassination as the kingdom seeks to reboot its international image ahead of the November G20 summit in Riyadh.
“Five convicts were sentenced to 20 years in prison … one person was sentenced to 10 years and another two to seven years,” the official Saudi press agency reported, citing a spokesman for the prosecutor.
None of the defendants were named in what was described as the final court ruling on the murder, which sparked an international outcry and tarnished Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s worldwide reputation.
Hatice Cengiz, the Turkish girlfriend of the murdered journalist, called the verdict a “farce”.
“Today’s ruling in Saudi Arabia once again makes a total mockery of justice,” Cengiz said on Twitter.
Agnes Callamard, United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, criticized the ruling as “one more act today in this parody of justice.”
“These verdicts have no legal or moral legitimacy,” Callamard wrote on Twitter. “They came to the end of a process that was neither fair, fair or transparent.”
Khashoggi, a member of the royal family turned critic, was assassinated and dismembered at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, in a case that tarnished the reputation of the de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed.
A critic of the crown prince, Khashoggi, 59, was strangled and his body cut to pieces by a 15-man Saudi squad inside the consulate, according to Turkish officials. His remains have not been found.
Riyadh has described the murder as a “rogue” operation, but both the CIA and a UN special envoy have directly linked Prince Mohammed to the murder, a charge the kingdom vehemently denies.
‘LAST NAIL IN THE CASKET’
Callamard also criticized the fact that “high-level officials” behind the assassination have “been free from the beginning” and that Prince Mohammed has remained protected against “any significant scrutiny.”
In December, a Saudi court exonerated two of the crown prince’s top aides for the murder: deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri and royal court media czar Saud al-Qahtani.
Both aides were part of Prince Mohammed’s inner circle and were formally fired for the murder.
“From the beginning, there was never an intention to hold those responsible accountable, only repeated attempts to cover it up,” Inés Osman, director of the Geneva-based MENA Rights Group, told AFP.
“This verdict is the last nail in the coffin, saying ‘the case is already closed.’
Media regulator Reporters Without Borders also condemned the verdict, and its secretary general, Christophe Deloire, told AFP that the opaque trial “did not respect the elementary principles of justice.”
The closed-door trial of 11 suspects ended in December with five anonymous people sentenced to death and three others received jail terms totaling 24 years for the murder.
But the family’s pardon paved the way for a reduction in sentences on Monday, including clemency for the five people sentenced to death.
The Washington Post reported last year that Khashoggi’s children, including his son Salah, had received multi-million dollar homes and were paid thousands of dollars a month by authorities.
Salah rejected the report and denied having discussed a financial deal with the authoritarian rulers of Saudi Arabia.
In July, 20 Saudi suspects, including Assiri and Qahtani, were tried in absentia in Turkey.
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