Turki al-Jasser and the Tyranny of Silence

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia executed Turki al-Jasser—journalist, blogger, and dissident—for the alleged crime of speaking the truth.

Let’s be clear: this was a state-sanctioned murder. Al-Jasser was executed for criticizing a government that brooks no dissent, for daring to tweet, blog, and write about corruption, women’s rights, and the plight of the Palestinian people. For that, he was arrested in 2018, imprisoned without transparency, tortured, and now—seven years later—killed.

His “crime”? Publishing the truth anonymously on a Twitter account that the regime later linked to him by infiltrating the platform. It wasn’t enough for the state to imprison him. They needed his death as a warning.

The Crown Prince greenlit this execution personally. This wasn’t a rogue act or a bureaucratic error—it was deliberate. A calculated strike against anyone who still believes they have the right to speak freely under authoritarian rule.

This is the same regime that murdered Jamal Khashoggi. The same leadership that wants to rebrand itself on the global stage with futuristic cities, tech investments, and sportswashing while silencing its own people with brutality. Executing journalists is not a sign of strength or sovereignty—it’s cowardice masked as control.

And where is the global outrage? Where are the Western leaders who claim to stand for democracy and human rights? They’re silent. Muted by oil contracts, weapons deals, and diplomatic games.

This is what complicity looks like.

Al-Jasser’s death is not just a Saudi issue. It is a warning to journalists and truth-tellers everywhere. If authoritarian regimes can hunt down their critics with impunity—and still be embraced on the world stage—then freedom of speech is an illusion, not a right.

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We cannot normalize this. We cannot look away. Every time a journalist is murdered by their government, and the world shrugs, the space for dissent everywhere shrinks.

Turki al-Jasser’s name should be said out loud, written in bold, remembered with fury. He died for doing what many of us do every day—speaking out.

Let’s not allow his execution to be erased by diplomatic indifference.