URGENT ACTION
QATARI NATIONAL PARDONED AND DEPORTED
Qatari national, Hamad Ali Mohammad al-Hamadi, who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison, was pardoned by the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and deported back to Qatar on 22 May.
The president of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on 22 May issued a pardon for Hamad Ali Mohammad al-Hamadi, a 33-year-old Qatari national who had been sentenced to 10 years in prison on 18 May by the State Security Chamber of the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi. Hamad Ali Mohammad al-Hamadi was released the same day and deported back to Qatar.
Hamad Ali Mohammad al-Hamadi was tried, along with four other Qatari men, under the Penal Code and Cybercrime law, on charges including “insulting the UAE’s symbols (UAE officials)” by publishing information, news, rumors and photos on Twitter with a view to ridiculing and damaging the prestige and status of the State. The four other men were tried in their absence and sentenced to life imprisonment. All five men appear to have worked for the Qatari State Security Apparatus.
Hamad Ali Mohammad al-Hamadi is said to have “confessed” to entering the UAE in September 2013 and buying smartphones and UAE SIM cards which he handed to one of the other men later convicted with him. The phones were then used to publish tweets deemed insulting to the UAE. Their trial began on 19 January.
Hamad Ali Mohammad al-Hamadi was arrested on 27 June 2014 at the al-Ghuwaifat border post, the same day as Yousif Abdulsamad Abdulghani al-Mullah a fellow Qatari national. They had been traveling alone, each driving his own car through southern Qatar, and Saudi Arabia before arriving at UAE’s western border. Yousif Abdulsamad Abdulghani al-Mullah was released on 18 March and deported back to Qatar.
No further action is requested of the UA Network. Many thanks to all who sent appeals. This is the second update of UA 256/14. Further information https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde25/1700/2015/en/
Name: Hamad Ali Mohammad (m)
Issues: Legal concern, Freedom of expression, Unfair trial
Further information on UA 256/14 (10 October 2014) and update (21 May 2015)
Issue date: 27 May 2015
Country: United Arab Emirates