The international legal team representing detained US-Kuwaiti journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has issued an urgent appeal over his safety, saying he has now been held in Kuwait for 51 days amid mounting concern over prison conditions and the absence of public clarity surrounding the charges against him.
In a statement released on Wednesday, lawyers acting for Shihab-Eldin said the award-winning journalist had not posted online or been seen in public since 2 March, while visiting family in Kuwait. He was arrested on 3 March and has remained in detention since.
The legal team said the charges had not been publicly disclosed, but he was understood to face accusations of spreading false information, harming national security and misusing his mobile phone over reposting images previously verified and published by international media organisations.
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. His lawyers said urgent appeals had been filed with United Nations experts and that they were engaging with US, European and other authorities over the case.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, part of the international legal team, said the family was deeply concerned.
"It has now been 51 days since our client, Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, an American Kuwaiti journalist, was taken. Every day he's gone is agonizing for his family," Gallagher said.
"We are aware of multiple reports from the US State Department and international bodies of mistreatment in Kuwaiti prisons. We are extremely concerned for Ahmed's safety and well-being.
"Kuwait is supposedly the United States' ally, yet this American citizen remains behind bars. It is long past time for him to be released so he can come home to his family in the USA."
The statement cited a December 2024 report by the UN Committee Against Torture, which raised concerns about overcrowding, poor detention conditions and allegations of torture and ill-treatment in Kuwaiti prisons.
It also referenced the US State Department’s 2024 human rights report on Kuwait, which documented credible reports of torture and degrading treatment by police and state security forces.
Last week, a US State Department spokesperson said Washington was aware of reports of Shihab-Eldin’s detention and that the Trump administration "has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans".
It comes after a wave of arrests of people in the Gulf for posting footage of Iranian drone and missile strikes, which governments argue threaten national security.
Campaigners and rights groups say the case has intensified concerns over press freedom and due process in the Gulf state.