The decision by a United Arab Emirates court to sentence a Jordanian resident to 10 years in prison in October for criticising Jordan’s government was based entirely on a series of peaceful Facebook posts, a rights group has said.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged authorities in the UAE to immediately release 46-year-old Ahmed Etoum, saying he was convicted solely for his “peaceful criticism of the Jordanian royal family and government”.
In a statement on Thursday, the US-based rights group said the court convicted him in October 2020 of using Facebook to commit “acts against a foreign state” that could “damage political relations” with that state and “endanger national security” inside the UAE.
UAE urged to free Jordanian imprisoned for highlighting corruption in Amman
Ahmed al-Atoum was sentenced to ten years in prison over social media posts criticising Jordan s king and government
The Jordanian activist was sentenced to ten years over his social media posts (Screengrab/Social media) By Published date: 11 February 2021 14:12 UTC | Last update: 1 month 2 weeks ago
Human rights organisations have this week urged the United Arab Emirates to release Jordanian activist Ahmed al-Atoum, who was sentenced to ten years in prison in October because of comments he d made on social media.
Atoum, 46, was a resident in the UAE for five years, where he worked as a teacher. He frequently used his Facebook page to voice his political opinions, commenting on the Jordanian government and its policies.