Abu Dhabi: The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on Wednesday responded to a press statement issued by the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council on March 28 raising allegations about the arbitrary detention of Ahmad Mansour, his unknown location, and the unspecified charges against him.
The ministry said: “On Monday, March 20, 2017, the Public Prosecution for Cybercrimes ordered the arrest of Ahmad Mansour on the background of the charges of promoting false and shaded information through the internet and serving agendas aimed at spreading hatred and sectarianism. He has been confronted with the charges against him and held in custody at the Central Prison in Abu Dhabi. He has the freedom to hire a lawyer and his family has full accesses to the place of confinement and is allowed to visit him, in accordance with the procedures followed in the penal institution.
“The allegations contained in the press release about Ahmad Mansour’s arbitrary detention, the lack of knowledge of his place of detention and the allegations of not specifying the nature of the charges against him are totally incorrect,” the ministry said.
It further said that, “the ministry calls on the Special Procedures Group and, in accordance with its code of conduct to be precise and objective, to investigate the accuracy of the information noted in their press release, and to verify the authenticity of the information from their official and reliable sources and to refrain from publishing the statements and politicised reports of some NGOs.”
