RIYADH/BEIRUT
A Saudi Arabian court on Monday jailed eight people for between seven and 20 years for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi (pictured), state media reported, four months after his family forgave his killers and enabled death sentences to be set aside.
The trial was criticised by a
U.N. 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 Oct. 2, 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, the kingdom’s de facto
ruler and son of King Salman.
State media reported that five
people were handed 20-year prison sentences, one person was sentenced to 10
years and two people received seven-year sentences for the killing.
None of the defendants was named.
The Khashoggi family’s lawyer
Motasem Khashoggi told Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper that the family welcomes the
“fair and deterrent” ruling and is satisfied by it.
“The verdict is fair and
deterrent to any criminal ... we as a family opted for applying (Islamic)
Sharia laws since the beginning and there is no court in the world that applies
sharia rules like in Saudi Arabia,” Khashoggi told Al Sharq Al Awsat newspaper.
“We have delegated our command to
God and to our rulers, who have fulfilled their promise, all our thanks,
appreciation, gratitude and loyalty goes to them,” he added.
But 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.”
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, although the prince in September 2019 indicated some personal
accountability, saying that “it happened under my watch”.
In May, the family of the slain
journalist said it 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.
A U.S. State Department official
said Washington had seen reports of the sentencing and was “closely monitoring
Saudi legal processes” in the case. “We call on Saudi authorities to ensure
that all involved in Khashoggi’s killing, which King Salman rightly labeled a
‘heinous crime,’ are held accountable,” the official said on condition of
anonymity.
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 made Saudi Arabia the “land
of justice”, a “country where rights are never lost.”
But Agnes Callamard, the U.N.
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.
Turkey, which launched its own
trial against 20 Saudi officials in July, said the verdict in Saudi Arabia fell
short of expectations, urging Saudi authorities to cooperate with Turkey’s
investigation.
“We still don’t know what
happened to Khashoggi’s body, who wanted him dead or if there were local
collaborators – which casts doubt on the credibility of the legal proceedings
in KSA,” presidency communications director Fahrettin Altun said on Twitter,
referring to Saudi Arabia. - Reuters
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