According to state television, a Saudi court on Monday issued its final verdict in the murder of 2018 journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi.
The names of those convicted were not released, but a Riyadh criminal court reportedly sentenced the five to a maximum of 20 years in prison. The other was sentenced to 10 years, and the other two were sentenced to seven years in prison.
However, the case has been widely criticized by rights groups and an independent UN investigator, who noted that no senior officials or anyone suspected of ordering the killings had been convicted. The independence of the court has also come into question.
Saurashtra officials go on trial in Absentia, Turkey for murder
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman smiles as he attends the Future Investment Initiative Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2018. Prince Mohammed has denied any information about the operation that led to Khashoggi’s death. (AP)
Prior to his assassination, Khashoggi wrote a critical article about Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia in a letter to the Saudi Washington Post. He had been in exile in the United States for almost a year, as Prince Mohammed prosecuted human rights activists, writers and critics of the destructive war in the Yemeni state in Saudi Arabia.
Khashoggi was assassinated inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey in late 2018.
A team of 15 Saudi agents was sent to Turkey to meet Khashoggi inside the consulate, to visit him to pick up documents to allow him to marry a Turkish fianc. Agnes Clamarde, who is investigating the murder for the United Nations, said the team included forensic doctors, intelligence and security officials, and individuals working directly for the Crown Prince’s office fees.
Turkish officials allege that Khashoggi was killed and then dismembered from a piece of bone inside the consulate. His body was not found. Turkey apparently corrupted the Saudi consulate and shared the audio of the murder with the CIA.
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Western intelligence agencies, as well as U.S. The Congress has said that the assassination of the Crown Prince is the ultimate responsibility and an operation of this magnitude cannot take place without his knowledge. But the Crown Prince has denied any knowledge of the operation.
One of the author’s sons, Salah Khashoggi, lives in Saudi Arabia and has received financial compensation from the royal court for his father’s murder.
The Associated Press contributes to this report.
