Dear friends,
Last week, we published the profiles of the 14 journalists currently detained in Saudi Arabia. Today, we’d like to talk to you about the most recent journalist executed in the country, who had been imprisoned for seven years. His name was Turki al-Jasser, and he was killed for his journalism. His execution raises deep concerns for the fate of the other media professionals unjustly imprisoned in Saudi Arabia solely because of their work.
In Saudi Arabia, heavy repression silences all free expression. Despite this, Turki al-Jasser dared to address topics considered sensitive in his country, such as women’s rights and the Palestinian cause.
On March 15, 2018, Saudi security forces raided his home and took him to an unknown detention centre. His detention conditions were so secretive that we believed he had died — until June 14, 2025, when the Saudi Ministry of Interior announced his execution, following seven years of arbitrary imprisonment.
According to Amnesty International’s 2024 report, Saudi Arabia has the highest number of executions in the world, and journalists are not spared.
Ranked 162nd in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, Saudi Arabia has no free press. Journalists remain under tight surveillance — even when they’re abroad. The country’s media outlets strictly follow the official government narrative, and self-censorship prevails, even on social media.
