UAE President pardons Egyptian poet Abdul Rahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi

UAE President pardons Egyptian poet Abdul Rahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi Submitted by Katherine Hearst on Fri, 09/04/2026 - 11:34 The Egyptian-Turkish national was 'forcibly disappeared' following his extradition to the United Arab Emirates and facing a 10-year prison sentence Off The President of the United Arab Emirates has pardoned Egyptian poet and high-profile activist Abdul Rahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who was facing a ten-year prison sentence, Emirati media reported. According to the reports, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued the pardon on Friday after Qaradawi was convicted by the Cybercrime Circuit of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal on 27 August, who handed him a 10-year custodial sentence and a fine of Dh200,000. The dual Egyptian-Tukrish national was first detained in Lebanon in January, and extradited to the UAE over a video he posted to social media while visiting Syria, in which he expressed critical views of the Egyptian, Emirati and Saudi authorities. Both Egypt and the UAE issued extradition requests for Qaradawi, with Lebanese authorities acting on the Emirati warrant on 8 January. MEE reported that in the months following his extradition, Qaradawi remained "forcibly disappeared" with no charges or indictment. In March, a group of United Nations human rights experts raised the alarm over Qaradawi’s continued forced disappearance, and called on the UAE to disclose his whereabouts. They further expressed concern regarding the legal process of Qaradawi’s extradition, which was triggered by an arrest warrant issued by the little-known security body, the Arab Interior Ministers’ Council (AIMC), saying that the move was politically motivated and not based on legal criteria. The extradition process orchestrated by the AIMC, they said, “is being abused by some states to silence criticism, shut down dissent, and pursue activists beyond their borders”. This is a developing story... Human Rights News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0