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Saudi Arabia executes journalist Turki al-Jasser
WHY IS THERE so little reporting in European media of the execution by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of journalist Turki al-Jasser, over anonymous social media posts?
An Al Jazeera news anchor reports on the alleged torture of Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser in prison in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia authorities confirmed al-Jasser’s execution on 14 June 2025
We do appreciate the statement from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
“We are outraged by Saudi Arabia’s execution of prominent journalist Turki al-Jasser, who was detained for seven years because the regime believed he reported on allegations of corruption within the Saudi royal family,” said CPJ Chief Program Officer Carlos Martínez de la Serna. “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.”
Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières or RSF) has also issued a statement, as has IFEX (formerly the International Freedom of Expression Exchange).
The first UK coverage we could find is in a 16 June editorial in the Belfast News Letter: You rarely hear calls to boycott Saudi Arabia for human rights abuses, as you do Israel. We suspect this is about Northern Ireland politics.
Earlier today the Daily Mail caught up. It was picking up a Guardian story yesterday.
We are alarmed by reports that al-Jasser was traced by Saudi security forces with the connivance, at least, of Twitter employees: see for example this The New Arab report in 2020. Twitter denied this on 11 November 2018.
Saudi authorities arrested al-Jasser in 2018 and seized his devices, believing that he was behind a Twitter account that documented allegations of corruption within the Saudi royal family. On 17 November 2018 Al Jazeera's The Listening Post programme mentioned rumours that Turki al-Jasser had died under torture.
It has been suggested to the Freelance that Turki al-Jasser was more of a blogger than a journalist. In this case we are happy to follow the CPJ, which in other contexts faces criticism for being too narrow in its definitions.
We are contacting relevant organisations to piece together what happened to Turki al-Jasser and what can be done about it.
Saudi Arabia executes journalist Turki al-Jasser on treason, terrorism charges