UAE rights activist Ahmed Mansoor appeals ten-year sentence over tweets

Leading Emirati rights activist Ahmed Mansoor has filed a Supreme Court appeal in a bid to overturn a 10-year jail sentence handed to him earlier this year for his social media activity, the Geneva-based NGO, International Campaign for Justice and Human Rights, has said.  

On 29 May 2018 Abu Dhabi’s Federal Appeals Court sentenced Mansoor to 10 years in prison for “defaming the UAE through social media channels.”

He was also fined 1 million Dirhams (£ 204, 327) for insulting the status and prestige of the UAE and its symbols', including its leaders, according to the UAE state-owned publication The National.

The decision sparked international condemnation, notably from several United Nations human rights bodies, the EU Parliament’s subcommittee on Human Rights, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.   

Since the ruling Mansoor’s health is said to have deteriorated rapidly, all his visitation rights have been suspended, and the exact place of his detention remains unknown - leaving him increasingly vulnerable to torture and ill-treatment.