The United States should develop a sanctions program in order to protect journalists like Jamal Khashoggi, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Agnes Callamard told the US House Intelligence Committee on Friday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2020) The United States should develop a sanctions program in order to protect journalists like Jamal Khashoggi, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions Agnes Callamard told the US House Intelligence Committee on Friday.
"I am also recommending that maybe the US government could develop a new program of sanctions called 'The Khashoggi Sanctions' which would take into account the principle of responsibility and focusing on sanctioning senior officials responsible for ordering, inciting or condoning violence against journalists," Callamard said, adding that they could be part of the Magnitsky act.
A spokesperson for the Saudi Public Prosecution's Office said Monday a Saudi court had announced sentences to eight suspects in the killing of Khashoggi. Five of them were given 20-year prison terms, one was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and two to seven years each.
Khashoggi's family considers the sentences in his murder case to be fair, Al Arabiya television reported citing the family's lawyer.
Khashoggi, a columnist for the Washington Post, went missing in October 2018 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Riyadh initially denied any knowledge of his whereabouts but eventually admitted that Khashoggi had been killed and dismembered inside the embassy. The Saudi monarchy has denied any role in the journalist's death. In December 2019, a Saudi court sentenced five suspects in the murder to death and jailed another three for a total of 24 years in a trial.
