Nasser bin Ghaith must be released without delay

Six years have passed since Emirati human rights defender Dr. Nasser bin Ghaith's unfair trial and unjust 10-year sentence. 

On March 29, 2017, bin Ghaith was convicted by the Abu Dhabi Court of Appeals and sentenced to ten years in prison.

 He was sentenced on charges relating to comments made on social media that were critical of the UAE authorities and their foreign policy, and also for having alleged links to the Ummah Party, which were designated a terrorist organisation by the UAE in 2014. Nasser bin Ghaith denied these charges, as the allegation relates to a speech he delivered on Islamic economy at a conference organised by the party in 2013. 

Bin Ghaith was charged under the UAE's Penal Code; the 2012 Cybercrime Law, and the 2015 Counter-Terrorism legislation. This case demonstrates that both the cybercrime and counter-terrorism law in the UAE are so vaguely defined that even just expressing one’s opinion can be interpreted as a crime or even as an act of terrorism, restricting the right to freedom of expression drastically. 

Therefore, the ICFUAE demand the Emirati authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Nasser bin Ghaith as well as other prisoners of conscience detained within their borders.