Middle East

Saudi court sentences suspects in Khashoggi murder

One defendant was handed a sentence of 10 years and the two others face seven years in prison, SPA reported on Monday.The verdicts come after Khashoggi's family "pardoned" five of the suspects in May, thereby sparing them the death penalty, CNN previously reported.Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial Killings who lead an independent investigation into the murder, called the verdicts a "parody of justice" on Monday."The Saudi Prosecutor performed one more act today in this parody of justice. But these verdicts carry no legal or moral legitimacy. They came at the end of a process which was neither fair, nor just, or transparent," Callamard wrote on Twitter."The 5 hit men are sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, but the high-level officials who organized and embraced the execution of Jamal Khashoggi have walked free from the start — barely touched by the investigation and trial," she added.The fiancée of the late Jamal Khashoggi, Hatice Cengiz, called the ruling a "mockery of justice" and a "farce."In a statement released on her Twitter account Monday, Cengiz also said the most important questions surrounding Khashoggi's murder remain unanswered. "The Saudi authorities are closing the case without the world knowing the truth of who is responsible for Jamal's murder," Cengiz said. "Who planned it, who ordered it, where is his body?"Khashoggi — a Washington Post columnist and royal insider-turned-critic — was killed and allegedly dismembered after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, having gone into the building to collect documents for his upcoming wedding.In December 2019, Saudi authorities said they were investigating 11 people involved in the Khashoggi murder. Charges were dismissed against the most high-profile figures, including former deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri and Saudi Consul-General at the Istanbul consulate Mohammed al-Otaibi. Additionally, there was "no evidence" Saud al-Qahtani — a former top adviser to Crown Prince MohamRead More – Source

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