Dubai, United Arab Emirates — A mass trial in the United Arab Emirates against dissidents that has faced widespread criticism abroad ended on Wednesday with dozens of people sentenced to life in prison, activists said.
The United Arab Emirates did not immediately recognize the rulings. However, they were expected to be issued in court on Wednesday, activists said.
Human Rights Watch said at least 40 of the more than 80 defendants received life sentences. Four others received shorter prison sentences. He did not know the sentences of all the prisoners.
“These excessively long sentences make a mockery of justice and are another nail in the coffin of the UAE’s nascent civil society,” said Joey Shea, UAE researcher for Human Rights Watch. “The United Arab Emirates has dragged dozens of its most dedicated human rights defenders and members of civil society through a blatantly unfair trial rife with violations of due process and accusations of torture.”
The Emirates Detainees Advocacy Center, a group led by an Emirati living in exile in Istanbul, said sentences had been handed down. Amnesty International also criticized the sentences.
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