London: Lawyers representing Egyptian poet and activist Abdulrahman Al-Qaradawi, who is reportedly being held in solitary confinement without charge in the United Arab Emirates for more than 100 days, have filed a legal challenge in the United Kingdom against the Emirati authorities.
The lawsuit was filed last Friday on behalf of Abdulrahman Al-Qaradawi, a fierce critic of the Egyptian government who had been residing in Turkey.
The legal action urges London’s Metropolitan Police to open a criminal investigation into allegations of the activist’s abduction, torture, and transfer to the UAE.
Al-Qaradawi was arrested in Lebanon on December 28 while returning from Syria.
He had visited Syria to participate in celebrations following the ousting of former president Bashar Al-Assad in a swift opposition offensive.
The Lebanese cabinet deported him to the United Arab Emirates on January 8.
His lawyer said he has been held in solitary confinement ever since, “without charge, without due process, and under pressure,” adding that this amounts to torture under international law.
His lawyer, Rodney Dixon, added:
“Abdulrahman was taken from his family, forcibly transferred across borders, and thrown into solitary confinement in a country that is not his own, with no evidence he committed any crime… This is not an extradition — it is a kidnapping in plain sight.”
Dixon is urging British police to open an investigation under the UK’s universal jurisdiction laws, which allow authorities to prosecute individuals for the most serious crimes regardless of where they were committed.
The lawsuit names the UAE Ministry of Interior, former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati — who approved the activist’s transfer from Lebanon to the UAE — and RoyalJet, the company that provided the private jet used in the rendition, as responsible parties.
