Riyadh: Saudi Arabia has convicted eight people charged in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, state media reported on Monday.
A court handed 20-year sentences to five people charged in the murder case, and three others were sentenced to between seven to 10 years, it said.
“Five of the convicts were given 20 years in prison and another three were jailed for 7-10 years,” the official Saudi Press Agency said, citing the public prosecution service.
The final court verdict comes after Khashoggi’s sons said in May they had “pardoned” the killers.
Khashoggi went missing on October 2, 2018, while visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish authorities later revealed he was murdered inside the consulate by a Saudi hit squad.
Khashoggi’s body, believed to have been dismembered, has not been found.
A 59-year-old Washington Post columnist, Khashoggi wrote critically of the Saudi government.
Questions remain over Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s (MBS) role in ordering the killing, with several western intelligence agencies alluding he had knowledge of the operation beforehand.
