5 sentenced to die in Khashoggi case
A Saudi Arabian court on Monday sentenced five people to death but placed no blame on the royal family for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi journalist working for The Washington Post when he was killed in Istanbul last year.
The prosecutor’s office in Riyadh announced the sentences, saying the five were guilty of “committing and directly participating in the murder.” Three other defendants were sentenced to a total of 24 years, the prosecutor’s office said.
Khashoggi, a frequent critic of the Saudi ruling family, was living in selfexile in Turkey when he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018, in search of paperwork related to his planned marriage. He was never seen again, and his body was never found.
The court rulings drew scorn from Agnes Callamard, a U.N. special rapporteur whose inquiry into the murder resulted in a damning report targeting Saudi Arabia’s royal family.
“Bottom line: the hit-men are guilty, sentenced to death. The masterminds not only walk free, they have barely been touched by the investigation and the trial,” Callamard tweeted after the sentences were announced. “That is the antithesis of Justice. It is a mockery.”
Callamard and Amnesty International criticized the trial, which was closed to the public and to independent monitors.
Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East research director, called the verdict a “whitewash” that provides Khashoggi’s family with neither justice nor truth.
“The verdict fails to address the Saudi authorities’ involvement in this devastating crime or clarify the location of Jamal Khashoggi’s remains,” Maalouf said.
The 11 who were convicted can appeal the decisions. Three other defendants were acquitted, and the office said no charges were brought against 10 other people investigated in the case.
The Saudis initially claimed Khashoggi, 59, exited the consulate the same day he disappeared, and security footage shows someone wearing his clothes walking away. For weeks, Saudi Arabia denied any knowledge of Khashoggi’s fate.
The Saudis ultimately revised the story, saying Khashoggi died after a fight broke out during his interrogation. An investigation was conducted, and several of the agents charged in the case worked for Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who drew international condemnation after the killing.
Saudi leaders, however, repeatedly rejected Turkish claims that the prince ordered or had advanced knowledge of the killing.
President Donald Trump defended the crown prince in the weeks after Khashoggi’s death, saying that the evidence was not clear and that the U.S.Saudi relationship was too valuable to disrupt.
The White House issued a statement Monday calling the court developments “an important step in holding those responsible for this terrible crime accountable, and we encourage Saudi Arabia to continue with a fair and transparent judicial process.”