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RIYADH: A Saudi court on Monday overturned five death sentences for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a final ruling that sentenced eight defendants to between seven and 20 years, state media reported.
“Five of those convicted were sentenced to 20 years in prison and three others were imprisoned for 7 to 10 years,” the official Saudi press agency said, citing a spokesman for the prosecutor.
None of the defendants were named in what was described as the final court ruling on the homicide that had sparked an international outcry.
The verdict came after Khashoggi’s sons said in May that they had “forgiven” the killers, a move that a UN expert condemned as a “parody of justice.”
The family’s pardon saved the lives of five anonymous people sentenced to death for the 2018 murder in a December court ruling, which was criticized by human rights groups after two top advisers to the crown prince were exonerated.
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, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Khashoggi, a 59-year-old critic of the crown prince, was strangled and his body hacked 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.
