Emad Mahdi Al-Daini is a Yemeni journalist, member of the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate, president of the Observers Foundation for Independent Media, and editor-in-chief of the Hadhramaut News newspaper. On 20 February 2025, a security force raided his home in the city of Mukalla, assaulting him in front of his family, including his children, before taking him to an unknown location without a warrant or any explanation. He was released on 23 February 2025. Press reports suggested that his targeting was linked to the discovery of an illegal refinery operating in the Rayyan area. On 06 March 2025, Al-Daini published an article on the Observers Press website, affiliated with the Observers Foundation for Independent Media, in which he stated that the local authorities found no charges against him other than “sharing a post… about depositing funds from a diesel-smuggling refinery into a money exchange company belonging to a relative of the governor.” He also explained that his arrest was meant to silence him from covering corruption cases in Hadhramaut, including the establishment of an illegal refinery.