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Khashoggi was assassinated at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul
Saudi authorities announced today, Monday, that the Saudi judiciary has issued final verdicts against eight accused of killing journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate building in Istanbul in 2018.
A spokesman for the Public Ministry said that final sentences were handed down against the accused.
In December 2019, the Saudi judiciary handed down death sentences for five defendants in the same case, but those believed to be close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were subsequently released.
Khashoggi’s family had said that they had decided to pardon the accused.
The statement issued today by the Prosecutor’s Office reads as follows: “The official spokesman for the Prosecutor’s Office declared that final sentences had been issued against those accused of the murder of citizen Jamal bin Ahmed bin Hamza Khashoggi.”
He emphasized that “the Riyadh Criminal Court issued judgments in this regard against eight convicted persons and acquired the final character, in accordance with article (210) of the Criminal Procedure Law, indicating that these provisions are in accordance with its wording after the expiry of the Right of legal assignment of the relatives of the deceased to prison terms for a total of 124 years. Each convicted person extended his sentence according to the criminal act dictated by him. Five of the convicted persons were sentenced to 20 years in prison for each, and three of those sentenced to ten years in prison for each and seven years for two of them.The spokesperson added that these penalties have become Final and enforceable according to article (212) of the Criminal Procedure Law.
Last July, the trial sessions of twenty Saudis accused in absentia for the murder of Khashoggi began in Istanbul, and among the accused were two former aides of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
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The Turkish judiciary charged the defendants with “deliberate and perverse murder and causing severe torture”, and the Public Ministry issued arrest warrants against them.
The Turkish prosecutor says that Ahmed Al-Asiri, former deputy director of Saudi intelligence and former supervisor general of the Center for Studies and Media Affairs of the Royal Court, Saud Al-Qahtani, spearheaded the operation and issued orders to the Saudi assassination team.
The remaining defendants were charged with strangling Khashoggi, whose remains have yet to be found, and Turkish authorities say his body was dismembered and his parts taken to an unknown location.
Last July, Britain announced sanctions against 20 Saudi officials involved in the killing of Khashoggi and others.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the move sends a “strong message”.
Salah Khashoggi, the son of the murdered Saudi journalist, had issued a statement on behalf of all his siblings, in which they pardoned their father’s murderers.
Saudi officials insist that Khashoggi’s death was the result of what they described as a “rogue operation” and that the Saudi state had no connection to his planning, but many questioned this internationally, including the United Nations and some. intelligence agencies.
Khashoggi had been writing for the Washington Post and was residing in the United States of America prior to his death.
