None of the men accused of killing Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi will face the death penalty or life in prison.
The Riyadh Criminal Court found eight Saudi nationals guilty in the death of Khashoggi, but the court handed light sentences to each man in a trial in which details were scant because of light news coverage from Saudi state media.
Five of the eight men received a maximum of 20 years in prison, while another will serve a maximum of 10 years behind bars, and two others will serve seven. Khashoggi’s family had asked the judge to show leniency for the eight men who were accused of murdering Khashoggi in a Saudi consulate in Turkey two years ago.
Several of the men involved in the plot had close ties to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whom Khashoggi targeted in critical opinion pieces for the Washington Post. Mohammed has denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s death.
International rights groups and an investigator with the United Nations have called into question the legitimacy of the trial and said that none of the senior Saudi officials who are accused of organizing the death were arrested.
