Sanad Organisation Condemns the Execution of Journalist Turki Al-Jasser and Holds Mohammed bin Salman Directly Responsible
London 18/06/2025
Sanad Human Rights Organization strongly condemns the execution of Saudi journalist and activist Turki Al-Jasser, carried out by the Saudi authorities in a grave escalation that marks an unprecedented regression of freedom of expression in the Kingdom. Al-Jasser paid with his life for tweets he posted via an anonymous account on the platform “X” (formerly Twitter), in peaceful expression of his opinions and views — a stark indication that free speech in Saudi Arabia is now being met with the death penalty.
According to available information, Saudi authorities identified Al-Jasser through a digital espionage operation targeting social media platforms, carried out in collaboration with former Saudi employees of Twitter. Ali Al-Zabarah, a Saudi national, exploited his position at the company to unlawfully access user data. Another Saudi national, Ahmed Saad Al-Mutairi (also known as Ahmed Al-Jubreen), acted as an intermediary between Al-Zabarah and Saudi security officials to facilitate this breach. Both individuals are currently wanted by U.S. authorities.
Sanad affirms that this crime is not an isolated incident, but rather part of a broader, systematic campaign led by the Saudi regime — and directly overseen by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — aimed at silencing independent voices and suppressing dissent across ideological and political lines. Since his rise to power, the Kingdom has witnessed an unprecedented wave of repression targeting journalists, clerics, activists, and intellectuals.
The execution of Al-Jasser — following the similar case of activist Dhafir Al-Shihri — signals a dangerous shift in which every social media user and every free voice in Saudi Arabia now faces the threat of being silenced permanently. Sanad warns that hundreds of detainees — particularly those currently facing trial, enforced disappearance, or torture — are at real risk of suffering the same fate under the state’s increasingly repressive and retaliatory policies.
Accordingly, Sanad Human Rights Organization urgently calls for:
1.An immediate halt to the implementation of all death sentences issued against prisoners of conscience in Saudi Arabia.
2.International pressure on Saudi authorities to release all individuals detained for peacefully expressing their opinions.
3.The launch of an independent, transparent international investigation into the executions and the serious violations committed against journalists and activists in the Kingdom.
The continued silence in the face of such gross human rights violations only serves to legitimize violence, embolden further repression against innocent people, and undermine the fundamental values of justice, freedom, and international human rights law. It enables the Saudi regime to continue committing abuses with impunity.
