Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Interior has reported that prominent journalist Turki al-Jasser was executed after spending seven years in prison on charges of treason, collaboration with foreign entities, financing terrorism and jeopardising national security and unity.

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

Details: Al-Jasser was arrested in 2018 after Saudi authorities suspected him of running an X (formerly Twitter) account that posted allegations of corruption within the royal family.

Saudi officials have been accused of surveilling X users and journalists, particularly Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.

Al-Jasser was a well-known journalist who wrote on sensitive issues such as women’s rights, the Arab Spring and corruption. He collaborated with the now-defunct Al-Taqrir newspaper and ran a personal blog from 2013 to 2015.

During his imprisonment, he was reportedly denied access to legal counsel and family members. Reports also state he was subjected to numerous forms of physical and psychological torture.

Carlos Martínez de la Serna, Chief Programme Officer at the Committee to Protect Journalists, has condemned the journalist’s execution, stressing that the absence of accountability for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018 has enabled continued repression of journalists in the kingdom.

Quote: "The international community’s failure to deliver justice for Jamal Khashoggi did not just betray one journalist; it emboldened de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to continue his persecution of the press, and today, another Saudi journalist has paid the price."

Background: 

• The Committee to Protect Journalists said that Saudi Arabia carried out 330 executions in 2024 – nearly double the number in 2023 – marking the highest figure in a decade. Over 100 executions have taken place since the beginning of 2025. 
• A declassified US intelligence report suggested that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.

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