Saudi Arabia arrests program host Mohamed El-Sayed

Washington, D.C., January 29, 2026 — The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Saudi authorities to disclose the reasons for the detention of Saudi television and YouTube program host Mohamed El-Sayed.

According to the U.K.-based Arab Organization for Human Rights in the U.K. (AOHR) and the U.S.-based independent media outlet Watan, El-Sayed was taken into custody by Saudi authorities and has not been heard from since December, with no official explanation for his disappearance or place of detention.

“The arrest of Mohamed El-Sayed is the latest example of Saudi authorities detaining journalists without legal justification, formal charges, or disclosure of their place of detention, while denying them contact with their families or access to legal counsel,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “Saudi authorities must immediately disclose the reasons for his arrest and his current whereabouts.”

El-Sayed hosts Sawaed Al-Ikhaa, formerly a television program and now a YouTube show with approximately 1.5 million subscribers, in which he interviews religious figures.

According to AOHR and Watan, the program aired on Saudi channel Al-Resalah for several seasons starting in 2013 before being taken off the air without any official explanation. 

Several of the program’s most prominent early guests have been in detention since 2017, including well-known Islamic preacher Salman Al-Ouda and Ali Al-Omari, chairman of the 4Shabab television channel, and one of eight journalists currently behind bars in the kingdom. 

CPJ emailed a request for comment to the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., but did not receive an immediate response.