On the afternoon of September 7, local time, the Saudi prosecutors announced the final verdict of the murder of reporter Khashoggi. The announcement issued by the procuratorate shows that the Riyadh Criminal Court has issued final judgments on 8 persons involved in the case, 5 of which were sentenced to 20 years in prison, 1 to 10 years in prison, and the other 2 to 7 years in prison. The announcement shows that after the final judgment is issued, all criminal prosecutions and private prosecutions will be terminated, and the judiciary will also start to enforce relevant judgments in accordance with the law.
In October 2018, the famous Saudi journalist Khashoggi was killed after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, which caused widespread concern in the international community. The Saudi court previously announced the results of the first trial in December 2019. Five of the eight people involved were sentenced to death for direct murder, and the other three were sentenced to 24 years in prison. In May 2020, Salah Kashuji, the son of the victim, issued a statement on behalf of his family, saying that he forgave the murderer who killed his father and expressed his “full trust in the Saudi judicial system.” The announcement of the final result issued by the Saudi prosecutors also showed that the final result was made after considering the attitude of the victim’s relatives.