A verdict is expected this week for a Canadian imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates for almost two years in what his family and human rights advocates have called an unjust case.
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When he is released, his family and consular officials have made arrangements for him to fly to Istanbul for “urgent” medical treatment.
Amal Eldarat, Mohamed’s sister, said while the family was overjoyed a judge had acquitted her father and brother, they were concerned the men were not immediately released from custody.
“I’m trying to stay focused and know that it’s not over yet. Canada needs to get him out today”.
Arrested in the UAE in August 2014, the Eldarats were held in secret, tortured, and denied access to legal counsel.
The Eldarats were initially charged with terrorism-related offences, but the prosecutor in March changed the charges to providing support to Libyan militants and collecting donations without state permission.
‘It’s has been the toughest two years, nearly two years, of our life’. According to Champ, the businessman manufactures appliances in the U.A.E. and sells them in the Middle East and Africa.
Alaradi’s case has drawn growing global attention since he and his co-accused went on trial. Their prosecution was condemned by human rights groups, and the United Nations special rapporteur said he found credible evidence they had been tortured. However, they set free four of them in December of the same year including Rifaat Hadagha, who talked about the brutal torture he received during his detention.
Alaradi’s teenage daughter, Marwa, who has advocated publicly for his release since he was arrested, was elated when she spoke to VICE News over the phone Monday.
“Canadian officials will continue to provide consular assistance to Mr Alaradi and his family, including by helping to facilitate his return home”.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion welcomed Alaradi’s acquittal and said he expects an “expedited process” to reunite the man with his family.
“We are moved by the resiliency shown by Mr. Alaradi’s family, in particular, their courage and conviction”, the statement continued.
Canadian officials were on hand to bring the businessman and father of five back to Canada, and were equally confused when he was arrested again following the acquittal, Champ said. “But Canadian government officials have already reached out to their Emirate counterparts and are insisting on Salim Alaradi’s immediate release”. It’s taken a massive campaign by their family, human rights activists, lawyers, and journalists to have them freed when their nightmare should never have begun in the first place.
Eldarat said her father had sought political asylum in the United States during the dictatorship of Muammar Gaddafi.
He is suffering from a range of health problems, including asthma, heart problems, and a kidney stone that formed after being forced to drink unclean water in prison.
“My father should not be in prison”, she said. Some of the scars on Alaradi’s body are two inches in diameter, his lawyer said.
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Greg Craig, the Eldarat family’s US-based attorney and a former White House counsel under Barack Obama, said: “This is the right result but long overdue”.
