United Arab Emirates jails five dissidents

A STATE security court in the United Arab Emirates has sentenced five activists who have campaigned for political freedoms in the oil-rich Gulf federation to prison terms of up to three years.

The three-judge panel yesterday sentenced one prominent blogger, Ahmed Mansour, to three years in prison. The others received two-year jail terms, including Nasser bin Gaith, an economist who has lectured at the Abu Dhabi branch of Paris’ Sorbonne university.

“I am disappointed,” said defence lawyer Mohammed al-Roken. “The fact there is no appeal is very worrying since it does not meet all standards of fair trial.”

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The five were arrested in April after signing an online petition demanding political reforms. The charges included insulting the country’s top leadership, endangering national security, inciting people to protest and urging them to boycott elections.

Political activity is severely restricted in the UAE, an alliance of seven semi-autonomous states, each ruled by a hereditary sheikh. There are no official opposition groups in the country and political parties are banned.

In an unprecedented move for the politically quiescent country, 130 people in March signed a petition demanding constitutional and parliamentary changes, free elections and a more equitable distribution of the country’s oil wealth.

The defendants have reportedly been on hunger strike for two weeks. They did not attend the sentencing yesterday. 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.

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