A Saudi Arabian court has jailed eight people for between seven and 20 years for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, state media reported, four months after his family forgave his killers and enabled death sentences to be set aside.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi's fiance and plaintiff Hatice Cengiz speaks to media after testifying in the trial of 20 Saudi nationals over the 2018 killing of Khashoggi. Photo: Anadolu Agency / Elif Ozturk
The trial was criticised by a UN official and human rights campaigners who said the masterminds of the murder remained free.
Khashoggi, a critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was last seen at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October, 2018, where he had gone to obtain documents for his impending wedding. His body was reportedly dismembered and removed from the building and his remains have not been found.
The murder caused a global uproar and tarnished the reformist image of Prince Mohammed, son of King Salman and the kingdom's de facto ruler.
State media reported that five people were handed 20-year prison sentences, one person was sentenced to 10 years and two people were handed seven-year sentences for the killing.
None of the defendants was named.
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2014. Photo: AFP / Mohammed Al-Shaikh
After the ruling, Khashoggi's fiancee said the eight jailed were not the only ones responsible for the murder.
"The Saudi authorities are closing the case without the world knowing the truth of who is responsible for Jamal's murder," Hatice Cengiz wrote in a statement. "Who planned it, who ordered it, where is his body?"
In December, the court sentenced five people to death and three to jail, saying the killing was not premeditated but carried out on "the spur of the moment.
Criticism from abroad
Some Western governments, as well as the CIA, had said previously they believed Prince Mohammed had ordered the killing.
Saudi officials denied he played a role, though in September 2019 the prince indicated some personal accountability, saying "it happened under my watch".
In May, the family of the slain journalist said they forgave his murderers, paving the way for a reprieve for the five defendants sentenced to death.
In Saudi Arabia, which lacks a codified legal system and follows Islamic law, forgiveness from a victim's family in such cases can allow for a formal pardon and a stay of execution.
Many Saudis hailed Monday's ruling in comments on Twitter, a platform favoured by pro-government supporters. Some said the ruling ended one of the most difficult political cases the kingdom has faced. Others said the ruling makes Saudi Arabia the "land of justice", a "country where rights are never lost."
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Photo: AFP / Saudi Royal Palace/ Bandar al-Jaloud
But Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur for extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions accused Saudi Arabia of making a "mockery of justice" by not punishing more senior officials who, she said, were behind the murder.
She said on Twitter the trial was not fair or transparent and "the responsibility of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has not even been addressed."
Adam Coogle, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch, said the conviction of individuals "does not hide the fact that the Saudi legal process has shielded top officials from any and all scrutiny."
"How can the regime be accused of the murder and at the same time it is responsible for the trial...?" said Yahia Assiri, founder of London-based Saudi rights group ALQST.
- Reuters