Dr. Mohammed Al-Roken Should Be Released in a Month

On July 2022, it has been ten years since Dr. Mohammed Al-Roken, a respected human rights lawyer who long provided legal assistance to victims of human rights violations in the United Arab Emirates.

Amongst others, he represented the “UAE 5”; five human rights defenders who were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment by a UAE court for their human rights work in November 2011 and subsequently released as a result of a Presidential amnesty.

Dr. Al-Roken was arrested on 17 July 2012. He was held an undisclosed location for 8 months, without access to his lawyer and his family. 

On 2 July 2013, the Federal Supreme Court convicted and sentenced Dr. Al-Roken to a 10-year prison sentence for signing – along with 132 other people – an online petition calling for political reform.He was convicted and sentenced following a grossly unfair mass trial of 94 people (known as the “UAE 94” trial) including human rights lawyers, judges and student activists.

As his 10-year-sentence is due to end, we call on the UAE authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Dr. Mohammed Al-Roken on his scheduled release date without delay under flimsy pretexts.

Moreover, we urged the authorities to take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of Dr. Mohammed Al-Roken, and guarantee in all circumstances that all (human rights) lawyers in the United Arab Emirates are able to carry out their legitimate professional rights and duties without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.