Five People Sentenced To Death Over Killing Of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

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Five People Sentenced To Death Over Killing Of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Five people will die over the brutal murder of a Washington Post columnist. Five people have been sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the kingdom’s consulate in Turkey in October 2018 after entering the building to obtain marriage papers.

Forbes reports that Saudi prosecutor Shalaan al-Shalaan found that the death of Khashoggi, 59, was a rogue operation carried out by Saudi operatives. The prosecutor handed out five death sentences and ordered three other people to prison for sentences totaling 24 years.

The two most senior officials implicated in the case which included an adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were cleared of wrongdoing. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salaman has denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s killing, despite the CIA concluding in November 2018 that he ordered it.

Later in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes”, Prince Mohammed took responsibility but still said he had no knowledge of the operation.

“I take full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia.”

Several are crying foul over the verdicts, including Amnesty International who dubbed it a “whitewash.

[The verdict] fails to address the Saudi authorities’ involvement in this devastating crime or clarify the location of Jamal Khashoggi’s remains.”

This verdict is a whitewash which brings neither justice nor the truth for Jamal Khashoggi and his loved ones. The trial has been closed to the public and to independent monitors, with no information available as to how the investigation was carried out … Saudi Arabia’s courts routinely deny defendants access to lawyers and condemn people to death following grossly unfair trials.”

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