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Saudi Arabia has handed down 20-year sentences to five people accused of killing Jamal Khashoggi, as he rendered final verdicts in the case.
Another person received a 10-year sentence and two others were ordered to serve seven years.
Five of the people were saved from execution after Mr. Khashoggi His son, Salah Khashoggi, pardoned those implicated in the May murder, a move that a UN expert called a “parody of justice.”
Khashoggi’s son forgave those involved in his murder
The eight people convicted have not been identified.
The trial in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh was criticized by human rights groups and a A investigator, who said that no senior official or anyone suspected of ordering the murder was found guilty.
The independence of the court was also questioned.
Khashoggi had written critical articles on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the Washington Post.
He lived in exile in the US for about a year while Saudi Arabia it cracked down on human rights activists, writers and critics of the kingdom’s war in Yemen.
He was assassinated in October 2018 when he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to collect documents for his upcoming wedding, while his fiancee waited outside.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman denies knowledge of plot
The kingdom initially denied that he was assassinated, but after changing the explanations, it finally blamed a “rogue operation” for his death.
Turkey said 15 Saudis had waited for Khashoggi inside the consulate, including a coroner, intelligence and security officers and people working for the crown prince’s office.
His body is believed to have been dismembered and removed from the building, and his remains have never been found.
Turkish intelligence authorities had bugged the consulate and said the recordings revealed details of the gruesome murder, and Khashoggi’s last words were apparently: “Don’t cover my mouth. I have asthma, don’t. You will suffocate me.”
They said that an operation of this size could not have happened without the crown prince knowing about it, yet he has always strenuously denied having knowledge of it.
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