Activists launch #Freeharun campaign for the release of US journalist from UAE prisons

Online activists launched a e-campaign under the hashtag #Freeharun for the release of an American journalist arbitrary held in UAE jails without charge or trial for several weeks.

Mohammed Harun Arsalai, 35, “was arrested 18 days ago and is still being held without charge at Duba Central Jail,” according to his brother, Sulaiman. 

According to Sulaiman, the U.S. Embassy in the UAE, which is a close U.S. ally, told him that his brother was set to be deported to Afghanistan this week. However, that has not happened, he said, and the family has not been able to find out exactly why their family member is still behind bars. “The jail has no record of him by name,” Sulaiman told teleSUR. “They keep asking for a case number which I do not have.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists has been in touch with Sulaiman and contacts in Dubai are working to find out more about his status.