By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan says 57 Bangladeshi nationals who were sentenced to long prison terms for protesting against the unrest in their home country have been pardoned, but will be deported back to their country.
State news agency, WAM, quoted the President on Tuesday as declaring that the sentences of the Bangladeshi nationals have been canceled.
The 57 persons were jailed for holding protests in the Gulf country against their own government.
Citing a presidential adviser, a Bangladesh’s news agency said all 57 are expected to return home soon.
The Bangladeshi expatriates were accused of joining protests in the UAE that reflected the mass demonstrations against the then Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, and her government in their home country.
They were swiftly convicted in July by a federal court in the UAE, which bans unauthorised protests. They were charged for “gathering and inciting riots”.
The prosecution had charged them with “crimes of gathering in a public place and protesting against their home government with the intent to incite unrest”.
Three people received life sentences and 53 were sentenced to 10 years in prison.
One Bangladeshi alleged to have entered the UAE illegally and “participated in the riot”, was sentenced to 11 years.
According to Al Jazeera report, Sheikh Mohamed’s move to pardon the prisoners comes less than a week after he spoke with Bangladesh’s new interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, who took over after Hasina was toppled from power and fled to India amid last month’s protests
That unrest in Bangladesh started in June with student-led protests against civil service job quotas.
It escalated into mass demonstrations calling for Hasina, who had been in power since 2009, to quit.
Heritage Times HT reports that the UAE has little tolerance for dissent as it prohibits criticism of rulers or speech deemed to create or encourage social unrest. Freedom of expression is restricted.
The country’s penal code also criminalises offending foreign states or jeopardising ties with them.
