The sons of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on Friday said that they have forgiven the killers of their father.
Taking to Twitter, Khashoggi’s son Salah Khashoggi tweeted, “We the sons of martyr Jamal Khashoggi announce we forgive and pardon those who killed our father”.
Khashoggi, a staunch critic of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was killed on October 2 after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to pick up the paperwork needed for his planned marriage to his Turkish fiancée.
Last year, in December,Saudi Arabia had sentenced five people to death for their role in the killing of the Washington Post’s columnist in Istanbul in 2018, the public prosecutor said.
Earlier, Salah has said that he had “full confidence” in the judicial system, and criticised opponents he said were seeking to exploit the case.
The United Nations and the United States Senate previously held the crown prince responsible for the crime, the kingdom’s strongman has not been prosecuted.
The 59-year-old had been a columnist for the Washington Post since 2017 after he left Saudi Arabia and was openly critical of his country’s monarchy.
The Post has condemned Khashoggi’s killing, with its editorial page editor Fred Hiatt qualifying it as “a monstrous and unfathomable act” if true, in a statement made in October.
His disappearance had sparked an outcry from the international community, drawing condemnation from organizations and world leaders.
Khashoggi was last seen entering the consulate on 2 October to obtain documents for his forthcoming marriage. His body has never been found.