Five
Emiratis jailed for backing political reforms in the UAE failed to appear in
court on Sunday despite authorities allowing the hearing to be open to the
public for the first time, it has been reported.
The
activists, who are charged with incitement and insulting the Gulf country’s
leadership, boycotted the proceedings due to fears they would not receive a
“fair trial”, AFP reported, quoting a letter posted online from one of the
accused.
Sunday’s
hearing of the five men, including a prominent blogger and university lecturer,
was due to be the first trial open to independent observers following a joint
campaign from human rights groups.
Among
the defendants is Ahmed Mansoor, an outspoken rights activist who joined
several dissidents this year to start an online petition demanding the
country’s quasi-parliamentary body, the Federal National Council, receive
greater powers.
The
petition also called for the right to vote for all Emiratis. The government
expanded the number of voters from 7,000 to 129,000 this year, around 12
percent of the UAE’s estimated one million citizens.
UAE
officials have said the government will roll out democratic reforms gradually
in order to maintain stability in the Gulf Arab state.
Another
defendant, Nasser bin Ghaith, a lecturer at the Abu Dhabi branch of France’s
Sorbonne University, published an article criticising what he called Gulf
states’ attempt to avoid political reform by buying off their populaces.
A joint
statement issued by four international rights group, including Human Rights
Watch, on Sunday condemned the trial.
“By not
respecting the rights of the defendants to a fair trial, the Emirati
authorities are forcing us to conclude that they have already decided the
outcome,” Jennie Pasquarella, a civil liberties lawyer, said in an emailed
statement.
Generous
government spending programmes in the UAE and a high per capita income of
$47,000 has staved off the kind of mass pro-democracy protests that have swept
across the rest of the Arab world and toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.
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