The United Nations human rights office today declared that it was unable to judge the fairness of the Saudi trial into the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, casting further doubt over the proceedings that kicked off Thursday. Renewing calls for an independent investigation with “international involvement,” spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the Saudis’ purported efforts to seek justice for the Oct. 2 slaying of the 60-year-old in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul were “insufficient.”

A Saudi prosecutor is seeking the death penalty for five of the 11 suspects in the murder. The UN said it was against the imposition of the death sentence. 

Why it matters: There is broad consensus among Western governments that a team of 15 Saudi operatives was flown in to execute Khashoggi under orders from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Saudi Arabia, which initially denied that Khashoggi had been murdered before caving in the face of systematically leaked evidence to the contrary by Turkey, now claims the team went rogue. The UN spokeswoman’s comments show that the international community isn’t buying that story either.

The barrage of outrage leveled against the kingdom’s de facto ruler has rallied many Saudis around the flag. But the scapegoating of underlings carrying out orders may be one step too far. With this move, the royal family is undermining its own standing among loyalists, said Abdullah Aloudh, a Saudi writer who is a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. “The message of this trial is that no matter how devoted you are, doing as the prince bids no longer assures one’s immunity,” Aloudh told Al-Monitor. “Quite the opposite,” he said.