Qatar releases Kenyan man charged with ‘spreading disinformation’

Bidali, security guard who blogged about life as migrant worker, charged with receiving payment ‘by a foreign agent’.

Doha, Qatar – A Kenyan national, arrested in Qatar last month and charged with “spreading disinformation”, has been released, according to rights organisations and his employers. The 28-year-old Malcolm Bidali, who works as a security guard in the capital Doha for GSS Certis, was arrested from his accommodation on May 5 and “placed under investigation for violating Qatar’s security laws and regulations”, Qatar’s Government Communication Office (GCO) said last month. On May 30, the GCO said Bidali was “formally charged with offences related to payments received by a foreign agent for the creation and distribution of disinformation within the State of Qatar”.