Egyptian activist Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi was held due to an arrest warrant by the Arab Interior Ministers Council.
Published On ۵ Sep ۲۰۲۶
Egyptian opposition activist and poet Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi has been pardoned by United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ), according to state media.
Al-Qaradawi was arrested in Lebanon in December ۲۰۲۴ and extradited to the UAE in January ۲۰۲۵, facing charges of “engaging in activities that aim to stir and undermine public security”.
Recommended Stories
list of ۴ itemsend of list
The UAE’s state news agency WAM said on Friday that the country’s president issued a pardon for al-Qaradawi, days after he was sentenced by the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal’s Cybercrime Division on August ۲۷ to ۱۰ years in prison and fined him ۲۰۰,۰۰۰ dirhams ($۵۵,۰۰۰).
It is not known if Qaradawi has been released but WAM reported on Friday that “the necessary procedures have been taken to implement the presidential pardon”.
Al-Qaradawi is the son of Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the Sunni Muslim world’s most influential religious scholars, who championed the ۲۰۱۱ Arab Spring uprisings, and drew the ire of leaders in Egypt and some Gulf states.
His family warned in a statement in January ۲۰۲۵ that Lebanon would be endangering his life if it extradited him to any country that demands him.
Rights groups and UN experts had called for al-Qaradawi’s release, saying he had been arrested merely for exercising his right to free speech.
