This past weekend, while the world’s attention was focused on Israel’s attack on Iran, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior announced that the kingdom had executed prominent Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser. It claimed al-Jasser committed a number of “terrorist crimes,” but all indications point to al-Jasser being executed for his journalism and peaceful criticism of the Saudi government. 

Al-Jasser was a journalist who investigated and exposed corruption in the Saudi royal family. He was the founder of al-Mashhad al-Saudi, a news blog that covered sensitive topics, including women’s rights and Palestinian rights, and also wrote for other outlets including al-Taqreer, an independent newspaper that championed democracy and human rights in Saudi Arabia during the Arab Spring. In September 2015, Saudi authorities shut down al-Taqreer. However, his biggest influence came from an anonymous account that put him in the government’s crosshairs. Using the pseudonym “Kashkool,” the account exposed corruption and human rights abuse linked to the Saudi royal family.   

Al-Jasser, who was arrested in 2018 during a widespread crackdown on dissent, is the first journalist killed by Saudi authorities since the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. His brazen execution for exercising his right to free expression is not only likely a violation of international law, but it raises alarm that the lives of the country’s other political detainees could be in immediate peril and demands strong international pushback. 

Despite promises from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to the contrary, executions in Saudi Arabia have surged in the past year, mostly involving individuals accused of non-violent drug offenses. As a journalist, al-Jasser’s killing would appear to signify a resumption of executions targeting high-profile individuals for political dissent. It has been almost a decade since Saudi authorities executed Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr in 2016, a vocal government critic who had been convicted on protest-related charges. The Saudi government received severe backlash over that execution and again after the murder of Jamal Kashoggi in Istanbul two years later. It appears MBS sought to avoid a similar reaction by announcing al-Jasser’s execution as the world was fixated on missile salvos between Tehran and Tel Aviv. 

Al-Jasser’s execution has been surrounded by secrecy and a near-total absence of information. The Saudi government claims that the outcome of the trial was upheld by the Supreme Court, but there is no indication that al-Jasser was permitted legal representation, provided due process, or if any legitimate evidence against him was presented. Given these factors, it is likely that al-Jasser was arbitrarily executed. King Salman’s approval of the execution, as required by Saudi law, provides yet another example disproving MBS’s ridiculous claim that bad laws and individual judges are responsible for the egregious sentences the kingdom issues against individuals for exercising their right to free expression.

Al-Jasser’s killing also raises real concerns for the safety of other political prisoners, especially Saudi humanitarian aid worker Abdulrahman al-Sadhan. Both al-Sadhan and al-Jasser were believed to have been arrested after a former Twitter employee spying for Saudi Arabia leaked private Twitter data that revealed their anonymous accounts that were critical of the Saudi government. Others at potential risk are reformist religious scholar Salman al-Odah, law professor Awad al-Qarni, media personality Ali al-Omari, and Islamic reformist cleric Hassan bin Farhan al-Maliki. All of the men were arrested during a crackdown on prominent religious figures in September 2017. Nearly eight years later, they remain in pre-trial detention and solitary confinement and Saudi authorities are seeking the death penalty in all their cases.

Al-Jasser’s execution exposes the brutal and arbitrary nature of MBS’s Saudi Arabia. Since late 2024, according to MEDC sources, Saudi authorities have released at least 70 political prisoners, many of whom were detained, like al-Jasser, for expressing their opinions on social media. In March 2025, Saudi Arabia’s head of State Security urged exiled dissidents to return home, claiming they would be “welcome” as long as they aren’t “implicated in criminal cases.” Al-Jasser’s killing serves as a reality check and sounds the alarm that capital punishment for peaceful dissenters risks being normalized. The world should act before other dissidents are next.