The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced that Saudi journalist al-Jasser was executed in Riyadh for crimes including "high treason by communicating and conspiring against the security of the Kingdom with persons outside its borders."

The journalist had previously spent seven years in prison.

Most dissidents and experts who followed al-Jasser's case say he was likely detained by Saudi authorities in 2018 after he was identified as the author of a popular anonymous Twitter account (now X) that accused the Saudi royal family of corruption and human rights abuses.

“Reporters Without Borders” said al-Jasser was the first journalist to be sentenced to death and executed in Saudi Arabia under Mohammed bin Salman's rule, and the second in the world since 2020, when Amadnews director Ruhollah Zam was executed in Iran.