Jamal Khashoggi's children issue statement forgiving those who killed their father

• The children of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi issued a statement on Thursday expressing forgiveness toward their father's killers.
• In a statement posted to Twitter, Salah Khashoggi, speaking on behalf of the family, said he pardons those who murdered his father.
• Khashoggi's fiancee Hatice Cengiz slammed the family's response, saying that his killers should not be forgiven.
• Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018, in an elaborate execution plot believed to have been ordered by the Saudi Crown Prince. His body has not been found.

The children of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi issued a statement on Thursday expressing forgiveness toward their father's killers.

Khashoggi was brutally murdered inside the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on October 2, 2018. Turkish prosecutors formally charged 20 Saudi nationals over the murder; five men were reportedly sentenced to death by Riyadh.

The CIA concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder, an allegation that the crown prince has denied. UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard said the premeditated murder "bears all the hallmarks of extrajudicial executions." His body has never been found.

In a statement posted to Twitter on Thursday, one of Khashoggi's sons, speaking on behalf of the family, said he forgives his father's killers.

The statement begins by referencing a verse in the Quran that discusses the pardoning of evil acts and rewards for forgiveness.

It then states: "Therefore, we the children of martyr Jamal Khashoggi announce we forgive and pardon those who killed our father, may he rest in peace, for the sake of God almighty and for the hope of God's reward."

Khashoggi's fiancee Hatice Cengiz slammed the family's response, saying that his killers should not be forgiven.

"Jamal was killed inside his country's consulate while getting the docs to complete our marriage," she tweeted. The killers came from Saudi with premeditation to lure, ambush & kill him. Nobody has the right to pardon the killers. We will not pardon the killers nor those who ordered the killing."

She continued: "His ambush and heinous murder does not have a statute of limitations and no one has the right to pardon his killers. I and others will not stop until we get #JusticeForJamal."

Salah Khashoggi was photographed shaking the crown prince's hand in a highly-publicized photo-op and has met with the Saudi king. Last year, he released a statement thanking Prince Mohammed for his generosity and humanity.

While Cegniz has actively campaigned for justice in Khashoggi's killing, his family members have made few public appearances and have not spoken out against the Saudi government.

According to The Washington Post, Khashoggi's children are barred from leaving Saudi Arabia and are being compensated for their father's death with large sums of money and expensive houses.