UAE court refuses appeal to release Tayseer al-Najjar

The UAE Federal Court refused on Monday an appeal submitted by the Jordanian journalist Tayseer al-Najjar’s wife for his release from prison in the UAE.

According to Majda Hourani, the court confirmed his three-year prison sentence which was imposed on him on March 15.

Al-Najjar, who was detained in December 2015 and spent more than a year awaiting trial, was sentenced to three years in prison in March of this year plus a fine of 500,000 dirhams (about 136,000 US dollars) over a Facebook post critical of the UAE foreign policy in relation to the 2014 Israeli offensive against the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Al-Najjar will also be deported as soon as he completes his sentence.