Man Forcibly Returned to the UAE Sentenced to 10 years

Emirati national Abdulrahman Bin Sobeih appeared before the Federal Supreme Court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 14 November. 

Bin Sobeih wassentenced to ten years imprisonment and three years of admin control.

The 15 year prison sentence he previously received in absentia has been cancelled and he will face new unknown charges.

Bin Sobeih was first brought before the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court on 28 March, 101 days after he was forcibly deported from Indonesia to the UAE and disappeared by Emirati authorities. 

During this hearing the judge reopened the “UAE 94” case under which he had been convicted in absentia to 15 years’ imprisonment. The judge then cancelled the conviction and sentence against him in order that he might be tried again under new charges which are as yet unknown. The judge postponed the trial until 29 April to allow him time to appoint a lawyer.

Starting in March 2012, the UAE authorities arrested scores of people linked to the social organization al-Islah, claiming that they were linked to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and that they were conspiring against the UAE’s state security. Between March and July 2013, the UAE tried 94 Emirati nationals, said to be linked to al-Islah, in the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court.

 It was an unfair trial. Many of the 94 had been held without access to their families or legal representation, for months, in unknown locations, before they were tried. The court accepted prosecution evidence based on “confessions” in pre-trial detention, when the 94 had not have access to their families or the right to be represented by a lawyer.