UAE activists jailed for reform demands
Abu Dhabi: Five pro-democracy activists have been given prison terms of up to three years after calling for political reform in the United Arab Emirates. Blogger Ahmed Mansour Ali Abdullah Al Abd Al Shehi who was detained in April, was sentenced to three years for making unlawful comments on a website, and Nasser Ahmed Khalfan bin Gaith, Fahad Salim Mohammed Salim Dalk, Hassan Ali Al Khamis and Ahmed Abdul Khaleq were sentenced to two years each. None of the men were in court yesterday to hear the sentence, citing unfair treatment in detention.
All five men were convicted of committing acts that pose a threat to state security, undermining public order, opposing the government system and insulting the country's US-backed authoritarian leaders, the President, the Vice President and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The five were specifically charged with calling for a boycott of Federal National Council (FNC) elections in September and inciting demonstrations.
Their arrest in April came amid a crackdown on dissent as the government tried to avoid ripples of the Arab Spring reaching its shores that has spread across much of the rest of the Middle East, including neighboring Bahrain. The activists' trial appears to reflect Abu Dhabi's strategy of snuffing out any sign of dissent that could pose a challenge to the tight political controls in country.
Article 176 of the Federal Penal Code allows up to five years in jail for anyone who publicly insults the President, its flag or its national emblem. Since the trial began in June, the defendants only attended the first, closed-door hearing where they all pleaded not guilty. They've boycotted the proceedings since because the presiding judge had refused to consider their request to be released on bail.
Defence lawyers Mohammed al-Roken argued that confessions signed by the men were made under duress, as many of them were held for up to 48 hours after their arrest without a chance to pray or use the bathroom. The verdict is not subject to appeal is worrying since it does not meet all standards of fair trial. He said. The activists have already served eight months in Al Wathba prison, which will apply to their sentence. The remaining option is a presidential pardon.
A number of rights groups, including the Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, criticized their trial as "grossly unfair", that there were no grounds for charging the activists and have pointed to grave procedural flaws in their trial, which failed to meet the minimum international standards for a fair trial. The trial’s irregularities also included detaining the defendants in “preventive custody” for nearly two months before charging them, holding court sessions in secrecy, allowing claims beyond the remit of the court to be heard during the sessions and not granting the defendants any meaningful opportunity to challenge the charges or evidence against them.
A relative of a defendant attended Sunday's hearing. Khalifa al-Nuaimi, bin Gaith's nephew, told reporters his family had hoped the court would "recognize his innocence" and order his release. "This is unexpected and a very harsh judgment." Minutes later, al-Nuaimi was attacked by a pro-government supporter, who punched him in the face and shouted threats and obscenities amid a heavy police presence around the court.
Emotions outside the Supreme Court ran high during the hearing, as hundreds of people gathered across the street, reciting poetry and reading patriotic statements over a loudspeaker. An independent report have been written on behalf of the Gulf Centre for Human Rights, with research assistance from Human Rights Watch, documented the threats by government sympathizers and the atmosphere of impunity in which they have been made.
The London-based rights group Amnesty International called it a "flawed and unfair prosecution" that will "tarnish the image of the UAE internationally."
More reports by Human Rights NGO's:-
"Today the Emirati government has shown that its rulers can tolerate no criticism. Luxury high-rises and international museums or universities can’t whitewash a government that jails citizens who call for peaceful reform". Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch
UAE: Prison Sentence for Activists an Attack on Free Expression
Amnesty International has urged the United Arab Emirates’ authorities to immediately release five activists following their conviction today by the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi for insulting government officials.
UAE: End ‘travesty of justice’ for five convicted over President insults
