A Kuwaiti-American journalist who was detained for nearly two months in Kuwait after posting about the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran on social media was acquitted on Thursday of all the charges against him, an attorney representing two members of his family said.
The journalist, Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, who has contributed to the BBC and Al Jazeera English and briefly worked for The New York Times, was arrested in early March while visiting Kuwait. His detention, which was condemned by international rights groups, highlighted restrictions on media coverage in the Persian Gulf since the war began in late February.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher, an attorney for two sisters of Mr. Shihab-Eldin, said he was “expected to be released imminently” after 52 days in detention. “Our focus now is upon ensuring the liberty and safety of our client, and we will provide more details once they can be confirmed,” she said in a statement.
Rights groups said the charges against Mr. Shihab-Eldin included spreading false information, harming national security and misusing a mobile phone. The Committee to Protect Journalists described those charges as “vague and overly broad accusations that are routinely used to silence independent journalists.”
Kuwait’s ministry of information did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Kuwaiti authorities have not publicly acknowledged Mr. Shihab-Eldin’s detention.
He was arrested after making comments online about the war and sharing a geolocated video showing a U.S. fighter jet that had crashed near an air base in Kuwait, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. The jet was one of three that the U.S. military said were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defenses.
On March 3, the day Ms. Gallagher said he was arrested, Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said it had arrested several people for “spreading false news.”
Mr. Shihab-Eldin, who was born in the United States to parents of Palestinian descent, has produced documentaries on sensitive human rights issues in the Middle East.
Kuwait, which ranked 128th out of 180 countries in last year’s World Press Freedom Index, has increasingly utilized its media laws to limit criticism of the government. Since the Iran war began, the authorities in Kuwait and other Persian Gulf countries have moved to suppress images and videos documenting Iranian strikes and other effects of the conflict on their soil, citing national security.
Some analysts have said that the effort at suppression was meant to protect the region’s reputation as a stable hub for business and tourism.
The authorities in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have arrested hundreds of people for “spreading rumors” or sharing footage of Iranian strikes in their countries, according to official news agencies. In the Emirates and Bahrain, some people have been charged with “glorifying” Iranian attacks.
In Kuwait, three men were recently arrested and charged with harming national security for creating a social media video in which they mocked Kuwait’s “current circumstances,” according to the Interior Ministry.
Ismaeel Naar is an international reporter for The Times, covering the Gulf states. He is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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