UAE sentences 43 Emiratis to life for ‘terror’ links in mass trial

UAE court sentences 43 Emiratis to life for "terrorist" links, sparking criticism from UN experts and rights groups.

A court in the United Arab Emirates has handed life sentences to 43 Emiratis for "terrorist" links, state media said July 10, after a mass trial heavily criticised by U.N. experts and rights groups.

Government critics and human rights activists were among the 84 defendants brought before the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal, most of whom have been in jail since a similar trial of 94 people in 2013, according to rights groups.

The Abu Dhabi court "sentenced 43 defendants to life imprisonment for the crime of creating, establishing, and managing a terrorist organisation" linked to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the official WAM news agency said.

Ten others were jailed for 10-15 years, WAM said, with one defendant acquitted and 24 cases ruled inadmissible. It did not give details of the remaining cases.

Defendants can still appeal the verdicts before the Federal Supreme Court.

The trial, which kicked off in December, has been condemned by rights groups and United Nations experts who accuse the oil-rich Gulf monarchy of cracking down on dissent.

Most of the defendants have already been in prison for more than a decade since the "UAE 94" trial 11 years ago, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International.