UAE President pardons five bloggers
President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan pardons the bloggers on the occasion of the country’s 40th National Day
Abu Dhabi: Five bloggers jailed for perpetrating acts that pose a threat to the UAE’s security have been granted a presidential pardon by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on the occasion of the country’s 40th National Day, according to reports by news agencies quoting the bloggers’ families and their lawyer.
“The president has issued a decree pardoning all of them,” the lawyer, Mohammad Al Rokn, was quoted as saying by Reuters. Al Rokn also told Reuters and AFP that he was told about the decree by the UAE public prosecutors, and expected the five to be “released before the end of the day”.
On Sunday, the Federal Supreme Court found the five bloggers guilty and sentenced them to up to three years in jail. Ahmad Mansour Al Shehi was sentenced to three years’ jail, while the other four were handed two-year terms.
The defendants — Al Shehi, Nasser Ahmad Khalfan Bin Gaith Al Merri, Fahd Salem Mohammad Salem Dalk, and Hassan Ali Hassan Al Khamis, all Emiratis, and Ahmad Abdul Khaleq Ahmad, who does not carry identification papers — were charged with instigating the public against the government, breaking laws and perpetrating acts that pose a threat to state security, undermining public order, opposing the government and calling for a boycott of Federal National Council elections.
