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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia continues to escalate its repression of press freedom, with 14 journalists currently detained under opaque and arbitrary conditions. Among them are Wajdi al-Ghazzawi, Turad al-Amr, Maha al-Rafidi, and Zana al-Shahri, whose cases reflect a broader pattern of silencing dissenting voices.
This intensifying crackdown reached a chilling milestone with the execution of journalist Turki al-Jasser on June 14, 2025, following seven years of enforced disappearance and imprisonment. Al-Jasser was convicted on vague charges of treason, terrorism, and endangering national security, stemming from his alleged operation of an anonymous social media account that exposed corruption within the Saudi royal family.
Human rights organizations, including Reporters Without Borders (RSF), have condemned the execution as a grave violation of international law and a stark indicator of the regime’s use of capital punishment to suppress peaceful dissent. Al-Jasser’s death marks the first execution of a journalist in Saudi Arabia under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and only the second globally since 2020.
Saudi Arabia ranks 162nd out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2025 World Press Freedom Index, underscoring the perilous environment for media professionals. The regime’s use of enforced disappearances, secret trials, and broad anti-terrorism laws to target journalists has drawn widespread international condemnation.
RSF and other advocacy groups are urging Saudi Arabia’s allies to take decisive action, including imposing sanctions, to halt the regime’s systematic persecution of journalists and restore fundamental freedoms. Without accountability, the lives of those still imprisoned—and the future of independent journalism in the kingdom—remain in grave jeopardy.
