Saudi Arabia executes journalist over terrorism, treason allegations

Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser is shown in this undated photo.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates -- Human rights groups and press freedom advocates have criticised Saudi Arabia’s execution of an imprisoned journalist over the weekend, the latest in a flurry of death sentences enacted in the kingdom.

Saudi journalist Turki al-Jasser was executed on Saturday, authorities said. He was arrested in 2018 and tried for terrorism, treason and endangering national security.

Jasser was a well-known journalist and blogger who had covered issues including women’s rights, the Arab Spring revolts and corruption while working for the now defunct Al-Taqrir paper, according to media rights group 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 Carlos Martinez de la Serna, the CPJ’s chief programmes officer.

The London-based NGO ALQST, which monitors rights in Saudi Arabia, panned the execution on Monday, saying the use of capital punishment “dramatically illustrates the lengths the Saudi authorities will go to, to suppress peaceful dissent”.

The group decried “the lack of transparency around Jasser’s case”, arguing that it “reinforces concerns long raised by NGOs that the true number of individuals at risk of execution -- and indeed the true scale of rights abuses in Saudi Arabia overall -- is in fact greater than is publicly known”.

Other rights groups and advocates including foreign-based opposition to the Saudi government have condemned Jasser’s execution.

Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s most prolific users of the death penalty and has already executed more than 100 people so far this year, according to an AFP tally.

The kingdom drew global notoriety after the 2018 murder and dismemberment of U.S.-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a government critic, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

Under its de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia is spending big on tourist infrastructure and top sports events such as the 2034 World Cup as it tries to diversify its oil-reliant economy.

But activists say the kingdom’s continued embrace of capital punishment undermines the image of a more open, tolerant society that is central to Prince Mohammed’s Vision 2030 reform agenda.

Saudi authorities say the death penalty is necessary to maintain public order and is only used after all avenues for appeal have been exhausted.