A Saudi court has overturned five death sentences over dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing, a final ruling in the case that saw the Washington Post columnist killed and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad. The court on Monday handed 20-year sentences to five people and three others were sentenced to between seven to 10 years, state media reported. The eight convicted of the murder, which took place in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Turkey, were not identified. The verdict comes after Khashoggi’s sons said in May they had “pardoned” the killers, a move condemned as a “parody of justice” by a United Nations’ expert. On Tuesday, UN spokesman Rupert Colville, while noting that the global body opposes the death penalty, said the Khashoggi trial lacked transparency and fell short on assigning accountability for the crime. “This is case where there has not been proper transparency in the justice process, those responsible should be prosecuted and given sentences commensurate with the crime,” he said in Geneva. “There is a whole issue of transparency and accountability in the case.”
Sep 2020. Saudi overturns Death Sentence on Jamal Khashoggi killing
