84 people are to be tried in the United Arab Emirates over links to terrorism. Most of them are in custody after being convicted in a separate case a decade ago, the news agency said Saturday.
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Among these defendants, “most are members of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization” in the Emirates and are being tried in the State Security Court “for founding another secret organization with the aim of committing acts of violence and terrorism on Emirati soil.” WAM said.
They “hidden this crime and its evidence before being arrested and tried in Case No. 17 of 2013,” she added, specifying that a new investigation had made it possible to collect “convincing evidence.”
At that time, 69 Emirati opponents, including activists, lawyers, students and teachers, were convicted of links to the Muslim Brotherhood – which this Gulf state considers a “terrorist group” – after a trial widely criticized by human rights defenders.
Although many of them have served or were about to serve their sentences, they are being prosecuted again for “founding an independent pressure group in 2010,” as Human Right Watch denounced in December (HRW).
According to HRW, other imprisoned dissidents are affected, in particular the opponent and human rights defender Ahmed Mansour, who was sentenced to ten years in prison in 2018 for criticizing the government and damaging his country's image on social networks.
“Making new allegations based on a peaceful action taken more than a decade ago is just a shameless excuse to keep these men behind bars,” the organization’s Middle East and North Africa deputy director Michael Page said in a press release.
Authorities said Saturday that a “thorough investigation” had been conducted over a six-month period and an attorney had been assigned to the unrepresented defendants.
The state security court has “started hearing witnesses and the procedures for the public trial are still ongoing,” it said.