On the tenth anniversary of the sentencing of 69 of the UAE94 group, the UAE authorities continue to arbitrarily hold 51 of the 69 individuals after they have finished serving their sentences in UAE prisons, including for over four years.

 UAE authorities justify their ongoing detention by citing the country’s “counterterrorism” law, which allows prisoners to be imprisoned for “counseling” (Munasaha) after they finish serving their sentences. Judges can indefinitely extend these counseling periods. 

It should be noted that UAE Case 94 is a mass trial conducted by UAE authorities against UAE94 that began in March 2013 and ended on July 2, 2013, when the Abu Dhabi Supreme Federal Court issued verdicts convicting 69 of the 94 defendants, including eight of those tried in absentia, 25 of whom were acquitted. The prison sentences ranged from seven to 15 years.

Among those convicted were many prominent figures in Emirati society, including human rights lawyer, professor of constitutional law and former president of the UAE Lawyers Association, Dr. Mohammed Al-Roken, and two well-known lawyers and human rights defenders, Dr. Muhammad Al-Mansouri and Salem Al-Shehhi, as well as human rights defenders Abd al-Salam Muhammad Darwish al-Marzouqi and Sheikh Muhammad Abd al-Razzaq al-Siddiq, both of whom were rendered stateless after authorities revoked their citizenship and left them without identity documents.