Saudi Arabia court issues final verdicts on eight nationals in Khashoggi killing

A Saudi Arabia court on Monday issued final verdicts in the case of slain Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi, sentencing eight defendants to prison terms. 

The court ordered a maximum 20-year sentence for five of the Saudi nationals. Another received a 10-year sentence, and two others were ordered to serve seven years, according to the Associated Press.

The verdicts were issued by the Riyadh Criminal Court and announced by Saudi Arabia’s state television, which didn’t give the names of those sentenced Monday.

Khashoggi was killed in late 2018 inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey, after going to get documents to get married. Prior to his death, Khashoggi had written critically in The Post about Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Despite the guilty verdicts and sentences, the trial was criticized for failing to find guilty any senior officials or anyone suspected of ordering the killing.