UN human rights experts call for immediate release of Ahmed Mansoor 

UN human rights experts urged the United Arab Emirates to immediately release the prize-winning human rights defender Ahmed Mansoor and annul the 10-year prison sentence imposed on him.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms Mr. Mansoor’s conviction and appeal to the Emirati authorities to reverse the decision against him and release him immediately,” the experts said.

Mr. Mansoor, who won the Martin Ennals Award in 2015, was convicted of defaming the UAE through the use of social media, and promoting sectarian hatred that would damage the country’s social harmony and unity.

The charges followed a number of tweets in which he had called for the release of detained human rights defenders Osama Al-Najjar and Nasser bin Ghaith, and had also drawn attention to human rights violations in Yemen and Egypt.