MADRID Jan. 10 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Government of the United Arab Emirates confirmed this Thursday the arrest of the Turkish-Egyptian poet Abdul Rahman al Qaradawi, son of the deceased spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, which Abu Dhabi considers a terrorist organization, after having been handed over by the Lebanese authorities.
“The United Arab Emirates has received the accused Abdul Rahman Al Qaradawi from the competent authorities in Lebanon, based on a request for temporary detention issued against him by (…) the Council of Arab Interior Ministers – Department of Criminal Declarations and Prosecutor’s Office (…) for committing acts that would provoke and disturb public security,” the Emirati authorities have announced.
Al Qaradawi was subject to an extradition order requested by the Emirati Ministry of Justice from the Lebanese authorities, “in accordance with the principle of reciprocity and the national laws and legislations of both countries.”
In a brief statement released through the state news agency WAM, Abu Dhabi has reaffirmed its “firm position against all those who threaten its security and stability” and has assured that “they will not hesitate to pursue those wanted and take legal action.” against them.”
Al Qaradawi was arrested on December 28 by Lebanese security forces upon his return from a visit to Syria. A group of independent experts from the UN and the NGO Amnesty International condemned his detention earlier this week. The NGO denounced what it described as an “arbitrary” detention after he “made comments critical of the Emirati, Saudi and Egyptian authorities.”
“Criticizing the authorities is not a crime. If Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi is returned to Egypt, he would be at real risk of enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, and of being subjected to an unfair trial leading to his unjust long-term imprisonment. Likewise, if he were returned to the United Arab Emirates, he would be at risk of arbitrary detention and other human rights violations,” the organization’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Sara Hashash, then warned.
Al Qaradawi is the son of the late Egyptian Muslim cleric Yusuf al Qaradawi, leader of the Muslim Brotherhood organization. His sister, Ola al Qaradawi, has spent four years arbitrarily detained in Egypt on false charges related to terrorism, the NGO reports.
The Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most important Muslim organizations in the world, was declared a terrorist organization in 2014 by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, followed by Bahrain and Egypt.
A year earlier, Abu Dhabi tried almost a hundred activists, lawyers, students, teachers and other critics of the government, accused of belonging to the banned organization in a process criticized by humanitarian organizations as an excuse to orchestrate political persecution.
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