Emirati citizenship case rejected

Abu Dhabi: The case of seven Emiratis, stripped of citizenship in 2011, was rejected because it is not under the jurisdiction of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of First Instance, the court ruled on Thursday.

"It is illegal to file a plea against the Ministry of Interior's decision to withdraw the citizenship certificates and passports of the defendants, because the decision was in implementation of the Presidential Decree revoking the citizenship,” the court, presided over by judge Waleed Al Ammari, said in its ruling.

Al Ammari later explained that the court can only look into the decisions, which principally changes the legal status of people. “But the defence looked only at the Interior Minister's decision: the implementation of the Presidential Decree revoking the citizenship."

In December, the UAE revoked their citizenship on the grounds that the seven posed a threat to national security.

Dr Mohammad Al Rokn, lawyer defending the seven Emiratis stripped of citizenship, told Gulf News after the hearing that he would challenge the court's ruling before the Court of Appeals and would file a new petition against the Presidential Decree stripping the citizenship of the seven men.

Asked why he did not initially target the Presidential Decree, Al Rokn said the decree was not shown to us untill we filed against the Interior Ministry's decision to withdraw citizenship certificates and passports of the seven men.

"During the course of the hearing, I tried to target the Presidential Decree, but the court rejected."

But judge Al Ammari said the legal course was not followed, so the request was turned down.

The seven, who had been detained for refusing to seek alternative citizenship, did not attend the hearing because it is an administrative case. It is mandatory for litigants to appear in court only in criminal lawsuits.

Sara Al Shamsi, representing the Ministry of Interior, earlier submitted to the court the decrees, which stripped the seven men of their citizenship.