Independent journalist Zuhair Kutbi was arrested in January 2019. He had previously been imprisoned from 2015 to 2017. CPJ could not determine whether he was active as a journalist since his release from prison in 2017. His most recent arrest came amid a crackdown on journalists in Saudi Arabia, including several who had not been active for some time.
Kutbi was arrested on January 10, 2019, according to Yahya Assiri, founder of the U.K.-based Saudi human rights organization Al-Qst, and Qatari news website Al-Sharq, which cited a post from an account on Twitter, since renamed X, called “prisoners of conscience.” It was not clear who is behind the account, which had been reporting on politically motivated detentions in Saudi Arabia since March 2014.
The reason for the arrest was unclear. According to Human Rights Watch, authorities banned Kutbi from writing as one of the conditions of his release from imprisonment in 2017.
In March 2019, The Guardian reported that Kutbi was one of four journalists being held in solitary confinement and suffering from malnourishment, denial of medical treatment, and alleged torture. The “prisoners of conscience” account posted on March 7, 2019, that Kutbi was denied treatment for cancer and diabetes.
Kutbi’s earlier imprisonment, from July 2015 to November 2017, was on charges of "inciting against the state" and "insulting state symbols," according to his father, Mohamed Jameel, who spoke with CPJ in 2015. The journalist previously contributed to the news website Makkah Online and his own website—which has since been taken offline—and often criticized the government. He has published several books on topics encompassing politics, geography, history, and social and philosophical issues.
On June 22, 2015, he appeared as a guest on a talk show called "Fi Al-Sameem,” on a Saudi YouTube channel called “Khalejia.” On that show, Kutbi criticized the country’s national dialogue as a waste of time and money, and said his remarks had been edited out of the broadcast of the most recent meeting.
Al-Qst Deputy Director Josh Cooper told CPJ in an email in November 2022 that Kutbi has not yet been brought to trial. As of late 2024, CPJ was unable to confirm whether Kutbi had been brought to trial.
In June 2024, SANAD Organization, a group that monitors human rights violations the Saudi Arabia, reported that Kutbi suffers from prostate cancer and diabetes, and this his health has deteriorated in prison due to medical neglect and months in solitary confinement. Multiple media reports have also detailed Kutbi’s cancer and health decline since his arrest.
In December 2024, CPJ emailed the Saudi Center for International Communication, a media ministry department in charge of public relations, requesting comment on the health and status of Kutbi and other imprisoned journalists, but did not receive a response.