A
court
in
the
United
Arab
Emirates
has
handed
life
sentences
to
43
activists
after
finding
them
guilty
of
terror
offences.
State
media
said
the
Abu
Dhabi
Federal
Court
of
Appeal
convicted
the
defendants
of
“creating
a
terrorist
organisation”.
United
Nations
experts
and
human
rights
groups
have
severely
criticised
the
mass
trial.
Human
Rights
Watch
(HRW)
said
more
than
80
human
rights
defenders
and
political
dissidents
–
known
as
the
“UAE
84”
–
were
put
on
trial.
Last
January,
the
UAE’s
prosecutor
general
referred
the
defendants
to
the
Abu
Dhabi
Federal
Court
of
Appeal
on
charges
of
“establishing
another
clandestine
organisation
for
the
purpose
of
committing
acts
of
violence
and
terrorism
on
UAE
soil”
known
as
the
“Justice
and
Dignity
Committee”.
He
said
most
of
the
defendants
were
members
of
the
Muslim
Brotherhood,
an
Islamist
movement
that
has
been
proscribed
as
a
terrorist
organisation
in
the
UAE
since
2014.
Its
local
affiliate,
the
al-Islah
party,
is
also
banned.
According
to
the
official
WAM
news
agency,
on
Wednesday
the
Abu
Dhabi
Federal
Court
of
Appeal
“sentenced
43
defendants
to
life
imprisonment
for
the
crime
of
creating,
establishing,
and
managing
a
terrorist
organisation”.
In
addition
to
the
43
life
sentences
handed
out,
10
other
defendants
were
jailed
for
10
to
15
years
in
prison
on
the
charges
of
“co-operating
with
al-Islah”
and
money
laundering,
WAM
said.
One
defendant
was
acquitted
and
24
cases
were
ruled
inadmissible,
it
added.
The
bulk
of
the
defendants
have
been
in
prison
for
more
than
a
decade
after
they
were
jailed
as
part
of
the
“UAE
94”
trial
in
2013,
according
to
HRW
and
Amnesty
International.
Many
had
already
completed
their
sentences.
But
UAE
authorities
said
the
latest
charges
were
“materially
distinct”
from
those
brought
in
2013,
which
did
not
include
accusations
of
financing
a
“terrorist
organisation”,
AFP
news
agency
reported.
According
to
Amnesty
International,
the
indictment,
charges,
defence
lawyers
and
names
of
defendants
were
“kept
secret
by
the
government”.
It
said
details
were
only
known
through
“leaks”.
HRW
identified
three
of
those
sentenced
to
life
in
prison
were
Nasser
bin
Ghaith,
Abdulsalam
Darwish
al-Marzouqi
and
Sultan
Bin
Kayed
al-Qasimi.
Prominent
activist
Ahmed
Mansoor
was
among
the
defendants,
it
added.
Reacting
to
the
sentencings,
Amnesty
International’s
Devin
Kenney
urged
the
UAE
to
“urgently
revoke
this
unlawful
verdict”
and
called
on
those
sentenced
to
be
released.
“The
trial
has
been
a
shameless
parody
of
justice
and
violated
multiple
fundamental
principles
of
law,
including
the
principle
that
you
cannot
try
the
same
person
twice
for
the
same
crime,
and
the
principle
that
you
cannot
punish
people
retroactively
under
laws
that
didn’t
exist
at
the
time
of
the
alleged
offence.”
Khalid
Ibrahim
of
the
Gulf
Center
for
Human
Rights,
on
whose
board
Ahmed
Mansoor
sits,
said:
“It
is
a
real
tragedy
that
so
many
activists
and
human
rights
defenders
will
remain
in
prison
for
decades,
deprived
of
watching
their
children
grow
up,
for
no
other
reason
than
calling
for
a
better
future
for
Emiratis.”
Despite
being
one
of
the
wealthiest
countries
in
the
Middle
East
and
promoting
high-tech
sectors
and
innovations,
the
UAE
remains
restrictive
on
political
activity.
The
federation
of
seven
emirates,
which
include
Abu
Dhabi
and
Dubai,
has
no
official
opposition
and
bans
political
parties.
In
2013,
almost
70
Islamists
were
given
jail
sentences
over
an
alleged
plot
to
overthrow
the
government.
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