DUBAI: Islamists charged with a coup plot in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have said they were abused in custody and, in a statement on social media, demanded an independent inquiry.
The trial of 94 Emiratis, which began in March, is seen as an attempt by the US-allied Gulf Arab state to address what it says is a security threat from the banned Muslim Brotherhood. The 94 were among dozens of people detained in a crackdown on Islamists over the past year amid heightened worries among officials about a spillover of unrest in other Arab countries.
In an open letter to the UAE president and vice-president published on a Twitter account belonging to the Islamist group Al Islah, the defendants said they had been insulted, threatened and in some cases subjected to physical abuse after arrest.
It was not clear how many of the 94, most of whom are in custody, had signed the letter or how it had been communicated outside prison. Most of the detainees belong to Al Islah, which denies government charges that it is an arm of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Attorney-general Saleem Saeed Kubaish said in January that group members had sought to penetrate state institutions, including schools, universities and ministries, according to state news agency Wam. The defendants are accused of “belonging to an illegal, secret organisation ... that aims to counter the foundations of this state in order to seize power and of contacting foreign entities and groups to implement this plan,” Wam said. Reuters
