New details emerged over Tayseer al-Najjar's case

New details emerged over Tayseer al-Najjar's case

Tayseer Al Najjar, a Jordanian journalist detained in the UAE, was charged with “offending the state” during  the first trial hearing held on January 18, his wife Majida Hourani said in a statement issued on Sunday.

The Jordanian journalist Taysseer al-Najjar had been brought before Abu Dhabi Appeal Court on Wednesday the 18th of January 2017.

Hourani, who has not been able to see her husband since his detention, said that the court adjourned the session until February 1 to allow the lawyer to attend the trial. 

On December 3, 2015, UAE authorities at Abu Dhabi airport prevented Najjar from boarding a flight to Jordan to visit his wife and children, without informing him of the charges.

After blocking him from travelling, the UAE authorities summoned al-Najjar to a police station in Abu Dhabi on December 13, 2015, and detained him there.

Since then, he was put on trial for three Facebook posts in which he criticized Egypt, Israel, and gulf countries, the last of which was published on his arrest day.

Al-Najjar’s detention and potential prosecution for the exercise of free speech is a violation of fundamental human rights.

 

Join our campaign and sign up to get involved: media@icfuae.org.uk