ABU DHABI: An Abu Dhabi court yesterday allowed a defendant in the trial of dozens of Islamists accused of allegedly plotting to seize power to seek medical treatment abroad, the justice ministry said.
During the hearing, the court “accepted the request by one of the defendants to hand her over her passport so she could travel abroad for medical treatment,” according to the ministry statement published by the official Wam news agency.
Out of the 94 defendants in the case, 86 including 13 women appeared in court yesterday. The rest are being tried in absentia. The next hearing was set for April 30.
The women defendants have been on bail since the trial, which is closed to foreign media, began on March 4.
Human Rights Watch, meanwhile, called on US President Barack Obama to press UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to “reverse the worsening human rights situation in the country,” when they meet in Washington yesterday.
“Obama should raise concerns with Al Nahyan about severe violations of fair trial rights, allegations of torture, and the laws and practices that foster exploitation of the UAE’s sizable migrant population,” said HRW.
“The backdrop to the two leaders’... meeting is the UAE’s fundamentally unfair mass trial of 94 critics of the government, the unpunished torture by its state security services, and an escalating crackdown on free speech,” said HRW’s Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson. Prosecutors say the accused are linked to the group Al Islah, which has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The trial is the largest in the history of the UAE, which has not seen any of the widespread pro-reform protests that have swept other Arab states, although authorities have boosted a crackdown on dissent and calls for democratic reform.
Kuwaiti House votes against stripping immunity of 4 MPs
Kuwait: The Kuwaiti National Assembly yesterday voted against the Public Prosecution’s petition to void parliamentary immunity of Members of Parliament Dr Abdul Hamid Dashti, Nabil Nouri Al Fadhel, Safaa Al Hashem, and Dr Maasouma Al Mubarak for charges in six cases filed against them.
Dr Dashti retained the immunity in a misdemeanor case, with 29 MPs out of the present 35 members, rejecting the prosecution request. 27 MPs voted for maintaining the immunity of their fellow deputy, Dr Al Fadhel, for accusations in a press case, with 37 legislators present. As to Al Hashem, 24 lawmakers rejected stripping her of the parliamentary immunity, with a total of 37 deputies attending.Agencies
