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Reporters Without Borders today denounced a Saudi court ruling on eight of those accused of killing Jamal Kasogi, saying the trial did not allow the truth about the crime to be known.
Meanwhile, in a Twitter post, Hatice Cengiz, the fiancée of a Saudi journalist, described the court ruling as a “hoax.”
A Saudi court on Monday sentenced eight people to prison for the murder of journalist Jamal Kasogi in 2018. Five were sentenced to 20 years in prison, one to 10 years in prison and two to Saudi State Media. None of the accused was identified.
“The trial was held behind closed doors and, as a result, the basic principles of justice were not observed,” the organization’s secretary general, Christophe Delouard, told AFP. “This trial, without a hearing and without journalists, did not allow us to know the truth and understand what happened on October 2, 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul (where Kasogi was assassinated) and who gave the order.” he added.
However, at the same time, the organization welcomed the cancellation of the death sentences imposed on some of the defendants in the first instance. RSF estimated that these death sentences could be “a means of forever silencing witnesses to the murder.”
This is my statement in response to today’s ruling. #Khashoggi pic.twitter.com/rPxzWhetb1
– Hatice Cengiz / خديجة (@mercan_resifi) September 7, 2020
Hatice Cengiz, Kasogi’s fiancée, spoke of a “joke”. In a post on Twitter, she claims, among other things, that the Saudi authorities are closing the case without people knowing who is responsible for the murder.
“The international community will not accept this deception,” she said in a statement, adding that she was more determined than ever to fight for justice.
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