Saudi Arabia overturns five death sentences in journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s murder case

A Saudi Arabia court on Monday overturned five death sentences in the murder case of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a final ruling, reported AFP quoting state media.

Five of the convicts have been given 20 years in prison while another three have been jailed for seven to ten years, AFP reported. The names of the defendants were not given in the final court ruling.

The verdict in Khashoggi’s murder came out after his sons said in May that they had “pardoned” the killer, a move condemned as a “parody of justice” by a UN expert.  The family’s pardon spared the lives of five unnamed people sentenced to death over Khashoggi’s murder in a December court ruling.

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Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post, was killed and dismembered at the Saudi’s consulate in Istanbul in October 2018, sparking an international outcry. The 59-year-old journalist, a critic of the crown prince, was strangled and his body cut into pieces by a 15-man Saudi squad inside the consulate, the Turkish officials had said. His remains have not been found yet.

Riyadh has described the murder as a “rogue” operation, but both the CIA and a United Nations special envoy have directly linked Prince Mohammed to the killing, a charge the kingdom vehemently denies.