Saeed Ziad, a Palestinian columnist and media commentator, was arrested on March 14, 2026, under a legal warrant issued by the Ministry of Interior's Cybercrime Department, reportedly in connection with tweets and commentary addressing the Iran war. He was later released on March 20.
CPJ was unable to independently confirm the reasons behind his arrest or the conditions of his release, with many sources fearing retaliation due to restrictions imposed by the Qatari government.
Ziad writes for Qatari-funded Al Jazeera and appears regularly on its programming as a political analyst.
His arrest came amid a broader wave of restrictions on media and expression in Qatar and the Gulf amid the Iran war. The Qatari interior ministry had previously warned the public against photographing and sharing content related to the conflict.
CPJ emailed the Qatari embassy in Washington but did not receive a response at the time of publication.