U.S. Senator Adam Schiff Condemns the Execution of Journalist Turki Al-Jasser: A New Crime Reflecting the Cost of Impunity in the Khashoggi Case

U.S. Senator Adam Schiff has strongly condemned the Saudi authorities’ execution of journalist Turki bin Abdulaziz Al-Jasser, calling the act a direct consequence of the lack of accountability in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Schiff stated:

“Saudi Arabia has executed another journalist, Turki Al-Jasser, after seven years of his detention for reporting on corruption.
The failure to hold Saudi Arabia accountable for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi only encourages further acts of deadly violence against journalists in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere.”

Saudi authorities carried out the execution of journalist Turki Al-Jasser on June 14, 2025, over tweets in which he peacefully criticized government policies. Al-Jasser had spent more than seven years in arbitrary detention, during which he was subjected to severe physical and psychological torture and denied his right to a fair trial.

On March 15, 2018, agents from the Saudi State Security raided Al-Jasser’s home without presenting any legal warrant. He was arrested over accusations of running a dissenting Twitter account named “Kashkool,” which had gained attention for its peaceful criticism of the Saudi government and its human rights violations.

Sanad Human Rights Organization asserts that this heinous crime is part of a systematic campaign targeting journalists and human rights defenders. The organization stresses the urgent need for international pressure on the Saudi government to halt its escalating abuses — which have now reached the point of executing journalists and peaceful dissidents.