With reporting from Heba Fahmy
After nearly three years in jail in the UAE, a Qatari doctor who was convicted of supporting the Muslim Brotherhood has been released under a presidential pardon.
Dr. Mahmood Abdulrehman Al Jaidah, director of medical services at Qatar Petroleum, appears to be one of two nationals pardoned by Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed al-Nahyan over the weekend in the name of preserving diplomatic ties.
Al Jaidah was first arrested in February 2013, while transiting through Dubai International Airport.
According to supporters, he was held for several months in a secret detention center and tortured by interrogators.
He was eventually formally charged and sentenced to seven years in prison last March for supporting the Brotherhood, which is a banned organization in the UAE.
Al Jaidah had denied the allegations against him, which included accepting an envelope with Dh100,000 (about QR100,000) from an Emirati to be handed over to another UAE citizen in Qatar.
In a series of tweets, one of his sons confirmed the doctor’s release:
الله اكبر الله الله اكبر
يارب لك الحمد وحدك ولك الشكر وحدك
خبر الافراج عن الوالد صحيح#الافراج_الجيدة_والحمادي
سجود شكر
الله اكبر ولله الحمد— حسن #محمود_الجيدة (@AlJaidah) May 22, 2015
Translation: God is the greatest, God is the greatest, God is the greatest. We thank (you only God). The news about releasing my father is correct. God is the greatest and thank God.
سجن سنتين ونصف ظلما
وهاهو والدي #محمود_الجيدة حرطليق بين اهله واحبابه
دعوة مظلوم صعدت إلى السماء فاستجابهاالكريم سبحانه
اللهم فرج عن الباقين— حسن #محمود_الجيدة (@AlJaidah) May 22, 2015
Translation: He was detained unjustly for two and a half years and here he is now; my father free amongst his people and loved ones. The prayer of the oppressed has risen to the sky and (God) responded to it. May God free the rest of them.
He also expressed solidarity with any other Qataris jailed in the UAE and urged their release.
Other cases
Last week, five Qatari nationals were handed prison terms and ordered to pay large fines after a court in the UAE convicted them for posting insulting images of that country’s royal family on Twitter and Instagram.
However, only one of the defendants was actually in custody, and the other four were sentenced in absentia.
In addition to pardoning Al Jaidah, Sheikh Khalifa is believed to have also pardoned that man, Hamad Al Hammadi, who had been ordered to spend 10 years in jail and pay a Dh1 million (~QR991,000) fine.
According to state news agency WAM, the move was to “strengthen the close fraternal relations between the leaderships and peoples of the two brotherly countries.”
Thoughts?