"Riyadh Criminal Court orders maximum 20 years in prison for 5 main defendants, another receives 10-year sentence, 2 more to serve 7 years in killing of 59-year-old critic of crown prince in Istanbul consulate in 2018"
The Saudi verdicts came after the kingdom tried 11 people in total in December, sentencing five to death and ordering three others to lengthy prison terms for covering up the crime.
The Saudi trial, however, had concluded that the killing was not premeditated. That paved the way for Salah Khashoggi, one of the slain writer’s sons, to months later announce that the family had forgiven his Saudi killers, which essentially allows them to be pardoned from execution in accordance with Islamic law.
Salah Khashoggi lives in Saudi Arabia and has received financial compensation from the royal court for his father’s killing.
Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings who investigated Khashoggi's death, described on Twitter the rulings as another act "in this parody of justice."
Callamard also criticized the court for convicting "five hit men" while the "high-level officials who organized and embraced" the killing have escaped punishment. This means the verdicts have "no legal or moral legitimacy," she said. The UN official added it was unfair that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman "has remained well protected against any kind of meaningful scrutiny in his country."
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