Khashoggi murder, Turkish prosecutor general asks for 18 life sentences
Khashoggi, Saudi Minister Al-Jubeir: the murder was "never authorized error" by the government
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07 September 2020The sentence against the defendants for the murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, killed on 2 October 2018 in his country's consulate in Istanbul by a squad of hit men from Riyadh, was issued today by a Saudi criminal court, he Al Arabiya TV reported today, citing the Saudi prosecutor.
The court sentenced eight people accused of murdering the Washington Post reporter: five were sentenced to 20 years in prison, while three others had sentences ranging between 7 and 10 years.
In Saudi Arabia, killings are usually sentenced with the death penalty or life imprisonment.
The penalties are reduced if the victims' relatives "forgive" the killer in exchange generally for money.
In this case, a spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office said the verdict "was issued after the forfeiture of private law, with the renunciation according to the Shariya, of the victims' families".
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi went missing in October 2018 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.
Riyadh initially rejected any awareness of the reporter's whereabouts, but eventually acknowledged that the reporter was murdered and dismembered inside the embassy.
The Saudi monarchy has vehemently rejected allegations of playing a role in Khashoggi's death, claiming he was killed in a rogue operation.