UAE President pardons Bangladeshis jailed for protesting

The UAE’s President, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has pardoned Bangladeshi nationals who were convicted and sentenced for staging protests and disturbances across several emirates in July, according to Emirates News Agency (WAM).

The decision includes cancelling the sentences of those convicted, and those pardoned will be deported from the UAE.

Dr. Hamad Al Shamsi, the UAE Attorney-General, issued an order to halt the implementation of the sentences and commence deportation procedures in line with President Sheikh Mohamed’s directive.

رئيس الدولة يعفو عن المتهمين والمحكومين في قضية التجمهر وإثارة الشغب في إمارات الدولة من الجنسية البنغالية

أمر صاحب السمو الشيخ محمد بن زايد آل نهيان رئيس الدولة “حفظه الله”، بالعفو عن المتهمين من الجنسية البنغالية الذين تجمهروا وأثاروا الشغب في عدد من إمارات الدولة خلال الشهر… pic.twitter.com/LEwI7camgv

— النيابة العامة (@UAE_PP) September 3, 2024

The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal sentenced 57 Bangladeshi citizens in an expedited trial in July after they had protested against the then-prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, and her government amid protests in the South Asian nation.

Three Bangladeshi citizens had been sentenced to life in prison, while 53 were sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to WAM. One Bangladeshi, who state media said had entered the UAE illegally and “participated in the riot”, was sentenced to 11 years.

The pardoning of the Bangladeshi nationals came after the UAE President held a telephone call last week with Bangladesh’s interim prime minister, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, according to an AP report.

Yunus took over Bangladesh after demonstrators drove longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country.

Read: Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina resigns, leaves country