DUBAI: Saudi Arabia sentenced eight people charged in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, halting the death sentence for five of the men.
A court handed 20-year sentences to five people charged in the murder case and three others were sentenced to between seven to 10 years, Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday. The eight convicted were not identified.
“Five of the convicts were given 20 years in prison and another three were jailed for 7-10 years,” the agency said, citing the public prosecution service.
The final court verdict comes after Khashoggi’s sons said in May they had “pardoned” the killers – meaning they would not receive death sentences – and the verdicts confirmed the five previously condemned men would not be executed.
Khashoggi went missing on 2 October, 2018, while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish authorities later revealed he was murdered inside the consulate by a Saudi hit squad. Khashoggi’s body, believed to have been dismembered, has not been found.
A 59-year-old Washington Post columnist, Khashoggi wrote critically of the Saudi government.
Crown prince role
Questions remain over Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) role in ordering the killing, with several western intelligence agencies alluding he had knowledge of the operation beforehand.
The Saudi government called the assassination a “rogue operation” after repeatedly denying any involvement for weeks.
Agnes Callamard – the UN’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions – also found “credible evidence” Prince Mohammed and other senior Saudi officials were liable for the killing in an investigative report published in June 2019.