Jamal Khashoggi’s remains are believed to have been located at the Consul General as his son came face to face with the man believed to have ordered his murder

The decision to sentence five “hitmen” to death over the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been met with anger, as the killing’s alleged “masterminds” have been let off the hook.

A Saudi court handed down the sentence overnight, but the verdict is being called a “mockery” and the “antithesis of justice” after two top figures investigated over the killing were exonerated.

Human rights expert Agnes Callamard has posted a lengthy thread on Twitter, punching holes in the court process that led to the verdict and saying the alleged “masterminds” — including the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman — got away scot-free.

“The hit-men are guilty, sentenced to death. The masterminds not only walk free. They have barely been touched by the investigation and the trial. That is the antithesis of Justice. It is a mockery,” she wrote.

“Impunity for the killing of a journalist commonly reveals political repression, corruption, abuse of power, propaganda, and even international complicity.”

e) The Judge appeared to have concluded that the killing of Mr. #Khashoggi was an accident since there seems to be no intent. To suggest that on the spare of the moment, the killers decided to cut down his body is utterly ridiculous. Dismemberment requires minimum planning. — Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) December 23, 2019

Anyone who thinks Jamal Khashoggi was murdered without the knowledge and express approval of Saudi’s leadership is a fool and clueless. And how convenient that the announcement of 5 individuals being sentenced to death contains NO NAMES. This is NOT justice. — Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) December 23, 2019

She said the trial was flawed because it took place behind closed doors and it didn’t consider or investigate the responsibilities of the Saudi leadership.

“The defendants had repeatedly stated they were obeying orders,” she wrote. The prosecutor had publicly stated that Saud al-Qahtani, Crown Prince personal adviser, had demanded the abduction of Jamal Khashoggi (on the grounds he was a threat to national security.) And yet, he remains free.”

The judge concluded that the killing was an accident, but Ms Callamard said the fact that the body was dismembered “clearly indicates planning”.

Turkey also criticised a Saudi court verdict saying it stopped short of meeting expectations to shed light on the killing and deliver justice.

The decision announced by the Saudi court “is far from meeting the expectations of both our country and the international community to shed light on the murder with all its dimensions and deliver justice”, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Ankara also said key aspects of the murder including the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s body were “left in the dark”, which the ministry said was a “fundamental deficiency” in terms of accountability.

Saudi prosecutors had said deputy intelligence chief Ahmed al-Assiri oversaw the Washington Post columnist’s killing in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in October 2018 and that he was advised by the royal court’s media tsar Saud al-Qahtani.

However, Qahtani was investigated but not indicted “due to insufficient evidence” and Assiri was investigated and charged but eventually acquitted on the same grounds, the statement said.

Of the 11 unnamed individuals indicted in the case, five were sentenced to death, three face jail terms totalling 24 years, and the others were acquitted.

When Saudis sentence five to death for Khashoggi's murder, we fear that it is a way to silence them for ever and to conceal the truth. We cannot consider death penalty helps to bring justice. We still expect a full accounting. #Khashoggi #PressFreedom

https://t.co/vWE7uF0OWQ pic.twitter.com/ze4PkxrMPX — Christophe Deloire (@cdeloire) December 23, 2019

The prosecutor said that the Riyadh court hearing the case held a total of nine sessions attended by representatives of the international community as well as Khashoggi’s relatives.

“We found that Khashoggi’s murder was not premeditated,” the statement said.

The trials of the accused were carried out in near-total secrecy, though a handful of diplomats, including from Turkey, as well as members of Khashoggi’s family, were allowed to attend the sessions.

The killing by a 15-man Saudi squad - who strangled him and cut his body into pieces - had shocked the world and drawn condemnation from the international community, including the United Nations.

Khashoggi had walked into his country’s consulate in Istanbul on that morning in October 2018 to collect documents that would allow him to wed his Turkish fiancee, Hatice Cengiz, who waited for him outside. He never walked out. His remains were never found.

Hard to feel that justice is done for Jamal Khashoggi when the Saudi "trial" of his alleged killers made no public effort to identify who gave the order to murder him, and now five of the defendants, perhaps those who know too much, are sentenced to death. https://t.co/gk3tBAmjKf — Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) December 23, 2019

Agnes Callamard, a UN special rapporteur who authored an inquiry into Khashoggi’s killing, later said the search for justice must not be left to the Saudi judicial system, which is “so vulnerable to political interference.”

President Donald Trump condemned the killing, and his administration sanctioned 17 Saudis suspected of being involved, though not the crown prince. Trump, however, has steadfastly resisted calls by members of his own party for a tougher response and has defended maintaining good relations with Saudi Arabia, framing its importance as a major buyer of US military equipment and weapons and saying this creates American jobs.

Meanwhile, numerous critics of the Saudi crown prince remained imprisoned and face trial for their acts of dissent.