By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday upturned a three-year prison sentence of a US citizen, and a Asim Ghafoor, a lawyer who represented Saudi slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
One of his legal representatives said Ghafoor was instead punished with a fine of $1.36 million and deportation to his country.
The Virginia-based US citizen, had been convicted in absentia in the UAE over allegations bordering on money laundering and tax evasion.
The specifics about the case have not been revealed but the authorities say it involved illegal money transfers through the UAE banking system.
Last month, Ghafoor’s supporters say Emirati security agents arrested him upon landing at Dubai International Airport and sent him to a detention facility in Abu Dhabi, where he was sentenced to three years in prison followed by deportation.
His lawyer who spoke on the condition of anonymity said Ghafoor was ordered to pay the $1.36 million fine before he could leave the country.
Emirati officials were yet to respond to this claim, even as the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi did not make a comment.
Ghafoor had been transiting through Dubai en route to Istanbul for a family wedding. His supporters say he had no idea the UAE had convicted him at some point in the past.
Emirati authorities claim they had investigated Ghafoor at the request of the United States. The State Department, however, said Washington had not ordered Ghafoor’s detention. The Justice Department has declined to comment.
Ghafoor’s lawyer rejected the charges of tax evasion and illegal money transfers. His supporters insist he had no opportunity to defend himself against the charges and describe his trial and conviction as unjust.
Ghafoor serves on the board of Washington-based human rights watchdog Democracy for the Arab World Now, DAWN, which is highly critical of human rights abuses in the autocratic UAE.
Ghafoor’s connection to Khashoggi, the Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist who was killed and dismembered by Saudi agents in Turkey in 2018, has raised the profile of the case.
