The XXIInd "Ludovic-Trarieux" Human Rights International Prize 2017 awarded to Mohamed al-Roken
A Jury composed of 27 European lawyers together with the European Bar Human Rights Institute (IDHAE) and the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA) awarded the 21st prestigious Ludovic trarieux Human Rights Prize to lawyer Mohammed al-Roken (United Arab Emirates).
Dr. Al-Roken, who is serving a ten-year sentence in prison as a result of a mass trial of 94 human rights defenders and political activists in the UAE, was unable to accept the prestigious award, so Mohammed Al-Saqer, a colleague from the now-dissolved Association of Jurists, accepted it on his behalf.
In electing Mohammed al-Roken, the jury wanted to "hail the courage" of a leading human rights lawyer who provides legal assistance to victims of human rights abuses in the UAE, including to fellow human rights defenders.
He was one of the defence lawyers in last year’s prominent case of five political activists – known as the ‘UAE 5’–a group of five individuals who were sentenced to between two and three years’ imprisonment for petitioning the government for legislative reforms in 2011.
He also represented the UAE 7, a group of seven individuals stripped of their citizenship by the government in 2011. He is also a member of Amnesty International and the Emirati Jurists’ Association.
