Ahmed Shihab-Eldin is an award-winning journalist who has worked with several major international news outlets [Getty]
US-Kuwaiti journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been acquitted in Kuwait after 51 days in detention, with rights groups welcoming the decision and saying he is expected to be released imminently.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) confirmed on Thursday that Shihab-Eldin had been found innocent of the charges against him and that more information would be provided soon.
“The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the news that journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been acquitted,” the organisation said in a statement.
“Full details are still being ascertained but his international legal team confirms that he has been found innocent of the charges and he is expected to be released imminently,” it added.
The award-winning journalist was arrested on 3 March while visiting family in Kuwait and has remained in custody since. His legal team say that charges have not been publicly clarified, but he is understood to face accusations including spreading false information, harming national security and misusing a mobile phone.
Campaigners say the case reflects a wider crackdown on free expression in the Gulf, where governments have tightened controls on reporting related to military developments during the regional conflict involving Iran.
On Wednesday, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor appealed to the court for Shihab-Eldin’s immediate and unconditional release, saying his continued detention constituted a serious violation of freedom of expression and press freedom.
The Geneva-based rights group said his arrest appeared to be linked directly to journalistic work and the publication of material already in the public domain, including footage showing the crash of a US F-15E fighter jet near a military base in Kuwait.
It said charges such as “spreading false information” and “undermining national security” were vague provisions frequently used to criminalise peaceful expression and public-interest reporting.
“Detaining a journalist for publishing information or materials already publicly available cannot be justified merely by invoking national security,” the organisation said.
Euro-Med also raised concerns over Kuwait’s Decree-Law No. 13 of 2026, which created broad new secrecy powers over military-related information and introduced harsh criminal penalties for publication.
The group warned that the law risked criminalising investigative journalism, independent reporting and public debate on security matters, while encouraging self-censorship.
Shihab-Eldin’s international legal team has previously said urgent appeals were filed with United Nations experts and that officials in the US, Europe and elsewhere had been approached over the case.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, part of the legal team, said this week that the family was deeply worried about his well-being, citing reports of mistreatment and poor detention conditions in Kuwaiti prisons.
Shihab-Eldin, a dual US and Kuwaiti citizen, has previously contributed to The New Arab, Al Jazeera English, The New York Times, PBS and the BBC.
Last week, a US State Department spokesperson said Washington was aware of reports of his detention and that the Trump administration had “no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans”.
Rights groups say the case has become a major test of press freedom and due process in Kuwait, once seen as one of the Gulf’s more open political environments.
