The fight for #JusticeForJamal continues. A Saudi court delivered what it claims is the final ruling in the Khashoggi case and a demonstration of justice. The international community, however, considers the decision a complete contradiction to the findings of international inquiries into Jamal Khashoggi’s killing, and a mockery of international rights and justice.

Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian journalist, was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018. The gruesome details of his death “made it a sensation,” with his body dismembered and only a bone saw left behind. The audio of Khashoggi’s last words recorded him saying, “I can’t breathe.” His body has never been found. Naming Khashoggi, the so-called “Guardian of the Truth,” a Person of the Year in 2018, Karl Vick of Time magazine wrote:

The stout man with the gray goatee and the gentle demeanor dared to disagree with his country’s government. He told the world the truth about its brutality toward those who would speak out. And he was murdered for it.

He was a Saudi citizen, US resident, and public media-man. Khashoggi’s killing reverberated globally. The gruesome nature and allegations that the state ordered the crime led to its featuring in the forefront of world news even through today. Almost two years later, Khashoggi’s assassins were finally sentenced. Five were found guilty for “committing and directly participating in the murder,” and three more were sentenced for covering up the killing. Publicly unidentified, the eight defendants were sentenced to between seven and 20 years in prison each. The Saudi court overturned death sentences previously handed down in December. 

While their sentencing was an important development with regards to preventing further arbitrary killings and silencing further key witnesses, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, who carried out the inquiry into the killing of Khashoggi, Agnes Callamard, held the trial to be just another act “in this parody of justice… at the end of a process which was neither fair, nor just, or transparent.” High-level officials allegedly involved in the crime remain untouched by the justice system.

Investigations by both the US CIA and the UN Special Rapporteur have found convincing evidence that there were others, beyond the convicted defendants, involved in the planning of Khashoggi’s killing. The Inquiry Report of 2019 (see document dated 04.10.2019 – Report A/HRC/41/36) found the “interception of Mr. Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate was the result of elaborate planning,” which must have been “overseen, planned and endorsed by high-level officials”. These findings were also understood by the Saudi prosecutor. One example of evidence leading to this conclusion is the “forensic doctor on the Saudi special operations team who, while in the consulate, described his method of dismemberment only an hour before” Khashoggi entered the building. 

Yet, the Kingdom Court unilaterally declared this ruling against the hit men to be the end to one of the most difficult political cases in Saudi Arabia. The international community, on the other hand, has dubbed it a complete mockery.Callamard highlights that the senior officials suspected of ordering the killing have been ”barely touched” and even ”well protected” during proceedings. 

This also calls into question the independence of the courts, given the lack of scrutiny of any high-level officials or real investigation into what happened prior to and after the killing. The trial cannot be said to meet “internationally acceptable standards of justice”. This standard would indeed require an investigation into high-level officials, a public trial, and an end to impunity in this case.

According to Callamard: “The Saudi authorities are playing out what they hope will be the final act in their well-rehearsed parody of justice in front of an international community far too ready to be deceived.” She argues these recent verdicts risk “whitewash[ing] what happened” and continues to call for truth. Certainly, many questions remain. Who is guilty of planning and ordering Khashoggi’s murder? Where is Khashoggi’s body? Why did his family forgive his killers, opening the door to a formal pardon of the crime? 

These questions can be answered. But to obtain answers, there must be international pressure and internal cooperation. The involvement of the Crown Prince and state officials must be investigated and brought to life, particularly with pressure from the Permanent Five members of the UN Security Council—the US, UK, France, China, and Russia—who have had little to say so far. 

The importance of answering these questions cannot and should not be undermined; the platform that Khashoggi occupied and the corrupt justice Saudi Arabia has demonstrated have ensured that this case is make-or-break in setting the standard for the protection of the rights of journalists and for the assurance of justice internationally. 

Maria is an LLM Human Rights graduate from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary. She is a volunteer for multiple human rights-focused organisations, a locum support worker and an aspiring barrister.