UAE: Acquittal of Libyan Canadian Salim Alaradi and his co-accused after 642 days in detention
On 30 May 2016, the State Security Chamber of the Supreme Court of the United Arab Emirates has acquitted Salim Alaradi and two co-accused after 642 days in detention. While the Security Chamber of the Supreme Court confirmed Alaradi's innocence, he was not allowed to leave the Court free, but was taken back to prison by the State Security forces.
On 28 August 2014, 47-year-old Libyan Canadian businessman Salim Alaradi was arrested by members of the State Security forces at the Atlantis Palm Jumaira Hotel in Dubai, where he was spending holidays with his family. Alaradi was kept in secret detention for 130 days, during which he was severely tortured, including by being subjected to long periods of interrogation while being sleep-deprived. After this period, he was allowed to make monitored calls to his family and receive short visits. Between August and September 2014, four other Libyans were arrested in Dubai by members of the State Security forces and suffered the same fate as Alaradi, subjected to incommunicado detention and torture.
On behalf of the five Libyans detained in the UAE, Alkarama seized the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), which on 24 December 2015 issued its Opinion No. 51/2015 characterising their detention as arbitrary and calling upon their immediate release. Despite the WGAD Opinion, on 18 January 2016, Alaradi and three of the other Libyans were presented to the State Security Chamber ofthe Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi for the first time, where they were all charged with trumped up terrorism-related offences. On 14 March 2016, two of the five men were acquitted.
Although Alaradi and the two remaining co-accused initially stood trial for "supporting terrorist organisations", after three months of trial hearings, the State Security Prosecutor withdrew all terrorism charges and filed new ones. The new charges falsely alleged that Alaradi took hostile actions against Libya by sending humanitarian supplies to organisations without the permission of the UAE government, and that he collected donations without permission of the appropriate ministry.
On 30 May 2016,State Security Chamber of the Supreme Court issued its verdict confirming the innocence of the three men after nearly two years in prison. As the men were ruled innocent, they should have been released and not taken back to prison by forces of the State Security. Their lawyers and family members are concerned as there have been several cases in the past in which the UAE State Security delayed the release of acquitted victims. Alkarama therefore urges the Emirati authorities to immediately release Salim Alaradi and his co-accused and to guarantee their right to legal remedy.
For more information or an interview, please contact media@alkarama.org (Tel : +41 22 734 1008).