A United Nations expert on Friday urged the United Arab Emirates government to immediately release five human rights defenders who have been imprisoned in harsh conditions for eight years.
June 11, 2021
A United Nations rapporteur called on the United Arab Emirates Friday to immediately release five human rights campaigners detained since 2013.
Mohamed al-Mansoori, Hassan Mohammed Al-Hammad, Hadif Rashed Abdullah al-Owais, Ali Saeed Al-Kindi and Salim Hamdoon Al-Shahhi were among a group of 94 lawyers, rights advocates and academics accused of plotting to overthrow the Emirati government.
In July 2013, 69 of the defendants in the “UAE-94” case were sentenced, eight of them in absentia, up to 15 years in prison.
The detentions came amid Abu Dhabi’s crackdown on an Islamist association called al-Islah and other activists calling for political reform in the aftermath of the Arab Spring.
RIYADH: Students from the Saudi national physics team added to the country’s Eid celebrations by winning five medals at a major international science competition.
The team, trained by the King Abdul Aziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba) in partnership with the Ministry of Education, scooped the awards at the 2021 Nordic-Baltic Physics Olympiad (NBPhO).
Mawhiba secretary-general, Dr. Saud Al-Mathami, said: “On Eid Al-Fitr, our students offered our dear nation the best gift and were able to represent it in the best way possible.”
The NBPhO event, which was held remotely on May 7 to 8 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, featured 116 contestants representing 11 countries.