BREAKING: Kuwait Acquits Prominent Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin
The Kuwaiti-American journalist, who has spent 52 days in a Kuwait prison, is expected to be released imminently.
A Kuwaiti court acquitted Kuwaiti-American journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin of all charges on Thursday after he spent nearly two months in prison, according to his family’s legal team.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said more details are forthcoming, but he’s expected to be released imminently.
“We are relieved that Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been found innocent after 52 days in detention,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “Ahmed’s freedom and safety remain our topmost priority and we will continue to closely monitor his case.”
Shihab-Eldin, an award-winning journalist of Palestinian descent who has worked with Al Jazeera, the New York Times, PBS, and the BBC, among other outlets, was arrested while visiting family in Kuwait on March 3.
The accusations against him were never made public, but he was believed to have been charged with “spreading false information, harming national security, and misusing his mobile phone,” according to CPJ, which called such accusations “vague and overly broad” and often used to “silence independent journalists.”
Shihab-Eldin, who last posted online on March 2, had shared publicly available videos and images, including a geolocated video verified by CNN, showing a US fighter jet crash near a US air base in Kuwait. The posts appeared to show a friendly fire incident in which Kuwaiti air defenses shot down three US planes. No pilots or crew members were killed.
His arrest came amid a wider crackdown on speech and the press across the Gulf amid the Iran war.
Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior warned on March 2 against filming or publishing videos or information related to Iranian attacks. About two weeks later, the country enacted a law against disseminating news, statements, or false rumors with the intent to undermine confidence in the country’s “military entities,” according to CPJ. Anyone convicted of breaking the law faced up to 10 years in prison.
Drop Site, citing Al-Rai newspaper, noted that Thursday’s verdicts were the first rulings of a newly established court overseeing alleged state security and terrorism crimes. Of the 137 verdicts handed down on Thursday related to charges of “inciting sectarian strife on social media platforms,” 18 included sentences of at least three years in prison, per Drop Site.
Check out more from Zeteo:
More Good News that we sorely need.
Best news ever. Now if we could just do something about all those journalists killed by Israel.