Nasser Bin Ghaith says he has been tortured during his disappearance

Nasser Bin Ghaith says he has been tortured during his disappearance

Eminent economist, Dr Nasser bin Ghaith who has been disappeared since August 2015, was brought before the UAE courts on 4 April 2016. At his trial he said he was subjected to torture and other ill treatment. Dr bin Ghaith has been denied access to his lawyer and his family. He saw his lawyer for the first time in court. He has been returned to secret detention and without access to family or a lawyer.

Dr Nasser bin Ghaith is facing trumped up charges based on tweets he posted about the Egyptian regime and meetings with peaceful political activists. The UAE have labelled these activists as terrorists, though they are in fact human rights organisations and NGOs.

His charges are based on the CyberCrimes Law and the 2015 Counter Terror Law and come within the increasingly hostile, authoritarian rule of the UAE. As part of the UAE crackdown on activists and reformists, Dr bin Ghaith has been swept up in the "security measures" now in place in the UAE.

His trial in unfair by international standards and should he be convicted would be unable to appeal the conviction. His trial is being heard by the State Security chamber of the Federal Supreme Court.

Dr Nasser bin Gaith was formerly a professor at Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi and was previously arrested as part of the UAE 5. 

 

 

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