Lawyers file legal complaint over the detention of an Egyptian poet and activist in the UAE

LONDON (AP) — Lawyers for an Egyptian poet and activist who has been allegedly detained and held in solitary confinement without charge in the United Arab Emirates for over 100 days have filed a legal challenge in the U.K. against UAE authorities.

The filing was made Friday on behalf of Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi, an outspoken critic of Egypt’s government who had been residing in Turkey. It urges London's Metropolitan Police to launch a criminal investigation into the activist's alleged abduction, torture and extradition to the UAE.

Al-Qaradawi was detained in Lebanon on Dec. 28 as he was returning from Syria. He had reportedly visited Syria to join celebrations after the downfall of President Bashar Assad in a lightning insurgent offensive.

Lebanon’s Cabinet deported him to the United Arab Emirates on Jan. 8. Since then he has been held alone “without charge, without due process, and under psychological pressure,” his lawyer said, adding that amounts to torture under international law.

“Abdulrahman was taken from his family, forcibly removed across borders and thrown into solitary confinement in a country where he is not a citizen and there is no evidence he has committed any crime," said his lawyer, Rodney Dixon. “This is not extradition; it’s abduction in plain sight.”

Dixon is pressing U.K. police to open an investigation under Britain's universal jurisdiction laws, which allow governments to prosecute people for the most serious crimes regardless of where they are allegedly committed.

The complaint names the UAE Ministry of Interior, as well as former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who approved the activist's extradition from Lebanon to the UAE, and Royel Jet LLC, the company that provided the private aircraft for the extradition, as responsible parties.

All have business or other links with the U.K. and could be arrested and prosecuted if they travel to Britain.

“What we are hoping is that based on the evidence we have, the Metropolitan Police will commence an investigation into these persons and entities and then to seek arrest warrants,” Dixon said.

Al-Qaradawi’s late father, Youssef al-Qaradawi, was a senior and controversial Egyptian cleric revered by the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi was wanted in Egypt on charges of disseminating false news and inciting violence, for which he was convicted and sentenced in absentia to five years in prison.

U.N. special rapporteurs have expressed concern over al-Qaradawi's case, and dozens of rights organizations have written a joint letter to UAE authorities calling for information on his whereabouts and his immediate release.

Amnesty International has said that while visiting Damascus in December, al-Qaradawi had filmed himself criticizing the authorities of the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The rights group said the video may have triggered his arrest.

A spokesman for Mikati said in a statement that it was not his personal decision to extradite the activist, and that the Lebanese Council of Ministers had followed due process in deciding to approve his transfer to the UAE.

The UAE government did not respond to a request for comment.

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