UAE imprisons doctor over 'Brotherhood support'

A court in the United Arab Emirates sentenced a Qatari doctor Monday for seven years in prison after convicting him of “supporting the Muslim Brotherhood” through his relations with the banned Al-Islah group.

The Qatari doctor, Mahmoud Al-Jaidah, has been designated by the human rights watchdog Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience. However, the UAE government claims he is affiliated with an organization that seeks to “overthrow the regime”.

Issued by the Supreme Court, the court ruling is final and cannot be appealed.

Two other defendants have been convicted, while a fourth has been acquitted.

Al-Jaidah was arrested in February, 2013, and locked up in an undisclosed location. His family told BBC that he was tortured during that period and forced to sign false testimonies.

Last month, 60 people have been detained in the UAE, most of them members of Al-Islah, and convicted of “membership in an underground, illegal organization which aims at destroying the foundations of the state of the UAE with the purpose of seizing power, and communicating with foreign countries and groups to carry out the plot.”

The defendants, including two prominent human rights activists, have been sentenced to 10-15 years.

Rori Donaghy, chairman of Emirates Center on Human Rights, dismissed the trial as “a gross miscarriage of justice as there have been clear fair trial violations and yet more allegations of torture that authorities have failed to investigate.”

Hassan, son of Al-Jaidah, said his family awaits a response from the Qatari foreign ministry.