Saudi Arabia executes a journalist after 7 years behind bars

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A salient Saudi writer who was arrested successful 2018 and convicted connected coercion and treason charges has been executed, the kingdom said. Activist groups support that the charges against him were trumped up.

Turki Al-Jasser, who was successful his precocious 40s, was enactment to decease connected Saturday, according to the authoritative Saudi Press Agency, aft the decease punishment was upheld by the nation’s apical court.

Authorities had raided Al-Jasser's location successful 2018, arresting him and seizing his machine and phones. It was not wide wherever his proceedings took spot oregon however agelong it lasted.

According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Saudi authorities maintained that Al-Jasser was down a societal media relationship connected X, formerly Twitter, that levied corruption allegations against Saudi royals. Al-Jasser was besides said to person posted respective arguable tweets astir militants and militant groups.

CPJ's programme manager Carlos Martínez de la Serna condemned the execution and said the deficiency of accountability successful the aftermath of the sidesplitting of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi astatine the Saudi Consulate successful Istanbul successful 2018 allows for continued persecution of journalists successful the kingdom.

“The planetary community’s nonaccomplishment to present justness for Jamal Khashoggi did not conscionable betray 1 journalist,” helium said, adding it had “emboldened de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to proceed his persecution of the press.”

Al-Jasser's “execution erstwhile again demonstrates that successful Saudi Arabia, the punishment for criticizing oregon questioning Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is death,” said Jeed Basyouni, caput of the Middle East and North Africa conception astatine Reprieve, an planetary anti-death punishment advocacy group.

Basyouni added that Al-Jasser was tried and convicted “in full secrecy for the ‘crime’ of journalism.”

A Saudi assassination squad killed Khashoggi astatine the consulate successful Istanbul. The U.S. quality assemblage concluded that the Saudi crown prince ordered the cognition but the kingdom insists the prince was not progressive successful the killing.

Al-Jasser ran a idiosyncratic blog from 2013 to 2015 and was well-known for his articles connected the Arab Spring movements that shook the Middle East successful 2011, women’s rights and corruption.

Saudi Arabia has drawn disapproval from quality rights groups for its numbers and besides methods of superior punishment, including beheadings and wide executions. In 2024, executions successful Saudi Arabia roseate to 330, according to activists and quality rights groups, arsenic the kingdom continues to tightly clamp down connected dissent.

Last month, a British Bank of America expert was sentenced to a decade successful situation successful Saudi Arabia, seemingly implicit a since-deleted societal media post, according to his lawyer.

And successful 2021, a dual Saudi American national, Saad Almadi, was arrested and aboriginal sentenced to much than 19 years successful situation connected terrorism-related charges stemming from tweets helium had posted portion surviving successful the United States. He was released successful 2023 but has been banned from leaving the kingdom.