Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi has been held in the UAE for over a hundred days
Lawyers have urged London’s Metropolitan Police to investigate the detention of Egyptian poet and activist Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi in the United Arab Emirates, reported the Associated Press.
In a UK court filing made last Friday, lawyers claimed that al-Qaradawi has been abducted, tortured, and held in solitary confinement for over 100 days. The poet was detained in Lebanon on December 28 while returning to his residence in Turkey from Syria; Lebanon’s Cabinet then deported him to the UAE on January 8.
al-Qaradawi’s lawyer said in a statement published by AP that the poet was being held “without charge, without due process, and under psychological pressure.” Under international law, this constituted torture, the lawyer said.
“Abdulrahman was taken from his family, forcibly removed across borders and thrown into solitary confinement in a country where he is not a citizen and there is no evidence he has committed any crime. This is not extradition; it’s abduction in plain sight,” al-Qaradawi’s lawyer Rodney Dixon said in a statement published by AP.
Dixon called for the UK police to initiate a criminal investigation under Britain’s universal jurisdiction laws, which permit governments to prosecute over serious crimes regardless of location. The suit against UAE authorities called out the UAE Ministry of Interior and former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Royel Jet LLC as responsible parties.
Mikati had approved al-Qaradawi’s extradition while Royal Jet supplied the private aircraft used to transport the poet from Lebanon to the UAE. Both parties have businesses or connections in the UK and could be arrested if they go to Britain.
“What we are hoping is that based on the evidence we have, the Metropolitan Police will commence an investigation into these persons and entities and then to seek arrest warrants,” Dixon said in a statement published by AP.
According to Amnesty International, al-Qaradawi had shot a video criticizing the authorities of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt while he was in Damascus last December, which potentially led to his arrest. United Nations special rapporteurs had voiced concerns over al-Qaradawi’s case while many rights organizations inked a joint letter to the UAE authorities seeking information on the poet’s location and his immediate release.
Mikati’s spokesperson said in a statement that the extradition call was not Mikati’s personal choice and that the Lebanese Council of Ministers had adhered to due process in approving al-Qaradawi’s deportation. The UAE government did not respond to a request for comment, according to AP.
al-Qaradawi had been convicted and sentenced in absentia to a five-year jail term in Egypt on charges of disseminating false news and inciting violence.
