"The international community will not accept this farce," tweeted Jamal Khashoggi's fiancée, Hatice Cengiz.
The Turkish fiancee of the Saudi journalist murdered in 2018 took offense after the final verdict delivered on September 7 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A Saudi court on Monday overturned the five death sentences handed down for the murder of power-critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi, sentencing eight of the eleven defendants to terms ranging from seven to 20 years in prison.
A verdict is far from satisfying everyone.
Hatice Cengiz accuses Riyadh of closing this file without the identity of the real sponsors of the murder being known.
"The Saudi authorities have closed this file without the world knowing the truth about who is responsible for Jamal's murder."
"The verdict in Saudi Arabia is a complete mockery of justice," she added, saying she was "more determined than ever to fight for justice to be done for Jamal".
This is my statement in response to the ruling today.
#Khashoggi pic.twitter.com/rPxzWhetb1
- Hatice Cengiz / خديجة (@mercan_resifi) September 7, 2020
A Washington Post contributor and critic of the Saudi regime after being close to it, Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated and his body cut into pieces in October 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, where he went to retrieve a document.
He was 59 years old at the time and his remains have never been found.
"A parody of justice"
The UN expert who investigated the murder of the journalist said for her part that the Saudi verdicts in this case have no "legal or moral legitimacy".
"The Saudi prosecutor has played a new act in this parody of justice," said in a tweet the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, Agnès Callamard, whose opinion does not bind the UN.
"These verdicts (...) were rendered at the end of a process which was neither fair, nor fair, nor transparent," she said.
"If the judicial institutions in Saudi Arabia are not able to deliver justice for Jamal Khashoggi, the truth can still be established and told", she adds while welcoming the cancellation of the death sentences
#JamalKhashoggi: These verdicts have no legal or moral legitimacy, after a trial that was neither fair, fair nor transparent.
https://t.co/1PjUrWgFmz
- Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) September 7, 2020
A verdict far from "meeting the expectations of the international community"
The verdict "is far from meeting the expectations of Turkey and the international community", for his part wrote on Twitter Fahrettin Altun, spokesman for the Turkish presidency.
"We still do not know what happened to the body of Khashoggi, who wanted him dead, or whether there were any local accomplices - which calls into question the credibility" of the trial, added the spokesperson.
The final verdict that a Saudi court issued today regarding journalist Jamal Khashoggi's execution inside the Kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey fell short of meeting the expectations of Turkey and the international community.
- Fahrettin Altun (@fahrettinaltun) September 7, 2020
Turkish justice began in early July to try in absentia 20 Saudis, including two relatives of the crown prince, former adviser Saoud al-Qahtani and former intelligence number two, General Ahmed al-Assiri, identified as the sponsors. of murder.
The first was investigated in Saudi Arabia but was not charged "due to insufficient evidence" and the second, indicted, was acquitted on the same grounds, according to the Saudi prosecution.
The organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) for its part considered that this trial will not have allowed to know the truth about this crime.
"The trial was held behind closed doors and therefore did not respect the elementary principles of justice" recalled the secretary general of RSF, Christophe Deloire.
"This trial without public or journalists did not allow to know the truth and to understand what happened on October 2, 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul [where Jamal Khashoggi was assassinated, Editor's note] and who had previously ordered to commit this state crime, ”he added.
#Saudi Arabia: The court sentenced on appeal 8 people to terms ranging from 7 to 20 years in prison for the assassination of #JamalKhashoggi.
For @RSF_inter, only an independent international investigation will make it possible to do justice.https: //t.co/JUP1RxqCGO
- RSF (@RSF_inter) September 7, 2020
With AFP
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