(File) - Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Kashoggi, leaves a court in Istanbul, July 3, 2020, during the trial in absentia of two former aides of Saudi Crown Prince and 18 other Saudi nationals over the killing of Jamal Kashoggi.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Saudi Arabia's state television says final verdicts have been issued in the case of slain Washington Post columnist and Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi after his family announced pardons that spared five from execution.
The Riyadh Criminal Court issued final verdicts Monday against eight people.
The court ordered a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for five, with one receiving a 10-year sentence and two others being ordered to serve seven years in prison.
The trial was widely criticized by rights groups and an independent U.N. investigator, who noted that no senior officials nor anyone suspected of ordering the killing was found guilty. The independence of the court was also brought into question.