Jamal Khashoggi: Five jailed for 20 years over journalist’s assassination

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Saudi Arabia has given 20-year sentences to five people charged with the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, according to Al Arabiya news channel.

A further three people have also been charged at Riyadh Criminal Court, receiving sentences ranging between seven and 10 years.

The trial was criticised by rights groups and an independent UN investigator, who noted that no senior officials, nor anyone suspected of ordering the killing, was found guilty.

The independence of the court was also questioned.

Before his assassination, Mr Khashoggi wrote critical columns about Saudi’s Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, for the Washington Post.

He lived in exile in the US for around a year whilst Saudi Arabia had a crackdown on human rights activists, writers and those criticising the kingdom’s war in Yemen.

He was killed when he entered the Saudi consulate to pick up documents for his upcoming wedding in IstanbulTurkey, in October 2018.