Jamal Khashoggi's sons forgive the murdered

It was in December last year that the people were convicted of the murder of the regime-critical journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In total, eleven people were prosecuted where five were sentenced to death, three faced long prison terms and some were released.

On Friday, son Salah Khashoggi wrote a Twitter post that read: "We forgive those who killed our father and seek rewards from the Almighty God."

As the forgiveness falls on id al-fitr, the Islamic festival that ends the fasting month of Ramadan, the possibility opens up for the murderers to be pardoned by the Saudi judicial system, writes The New York Times.

The Twitter post has sparked strong reactions, not least from fiancee Hatice Cengiz who writes:

“No one has the right to pardon these murderers. I and others will not rest until we get justice for Jamal. "

The UN Special Rapporteur on "extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions", Agnes Callamard, describes the incident as "the final act of a well-rehearsed legal parody of an international community that is far from ready to be fooled."

Jamal Khashoggi was murdered on October 2, 2018 inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. The assassination is alleged to have been ordered at the highest level in Saudi Arabia, something that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has denied on several occasions.

In compensation for his father's death, Khashoggi's children received tens of thousands of US dollars and real estate worth millions from the Saudi government, the Washington Post reported last year, citing anonymous government sources.