The SPAA on Monday reported that one accused has been sentenced to 10 years and the other two to seven years in prison.
UN special rapper for extrajudicial killings, Agnes Clamarde, who led an independent investigation into the killings, called the verdicts a “parody of justice” on Monday.
“The Saudi prosecutor committed one more act today in this parody of justice. But there is no legal or moral legitimacy in these judgments. They came at the end of a process that was not fair, just or transparent,” Kalamard wrote on Twitter.
“Five hit men have been sentenced to 20 years in prison, but high-ranking officials who organized and co-opted Jamal Khashoggi’s execution have been released from the outset, which is hardly touched by investigations and hearings.”
Khashoggi – a Washington Post columnist and royal interlocutor – was assassinated after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, after going to the building to collect documents for his upcoming wedding.
In addition, there is no evidence – Saud al-Qahtani – a former top adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and a member of his inner circle – in 2019, the Saudi prosecution said.
The version of what happened in Riyadh on October 2 has changed frequently, but it has always maintained that neither Bin Salman nor his father, King Salman, were aware of the operation targeting Khashoggi.
However, the U.S. Officials said the mission – which included 15 men sent from the state – could not be carried out without Bin Salman’s approval.
CNN’s Sarah Al Sirgni and Lennon Saeed-Moorehouse contributed to the report.
.
