Saudi Arabia has executed a journalist who wrote about women’s rights, politics and the Arab Spring, reports the Associated Press.
Turki al Jasser was arrested in 2018, held incommunicado for several years, and apparently tried, convicted and sentenced to death in total secrecy.
Turki’s execution is a reminder of the deep rooted political repression that is driving the execution crisis in Saudi Arabia.
Reprieve’s head of MENA, Jeed Basyouni, said: “This execution once again demonstrates that in Saudi Arabia, the punishment for criticising or questioning Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is death. Turki al Jasser was apparently tortured, tried, convicted, sentenced and executed in total secrecy, for the ‘crime’ of journalism. The echoes of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder are profoundly disturbing. In the last two years, the Saudi authorities have executed far more people than ever before, and daily executions are now the norm. Capital punishment remains a key tool of repression for this brutal authoritarian regime.”
