Khashoggi Trial Fell Short On Transparency, Accountability: UN Rights Office

The Saudi trial into the killing of critic Jamal Khashoggi has lacked transparency and fallen short on assigning accountability for the crime, the U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday.

A Saudi Arabian court on Monday jailed eight people for between seven and 20 years for the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, state media reported, four months after his family forgave his killers and enabled death sentences to be set aside.

U.N. spokesman Rupert Colville, noting that the United Nations opposes the death penalty, told a Geneva briefing: "This is case where there has not been proper transparency in the justice process, those responsible should be prosecuted and given sentences commensurate with the crime."

"There is a whole issue of transparency and accountabilty in the case," he said.