Update: On 03 September 2024, the Federal Public Prosecution announced on its Facebook page that the President of the State had pardoned 57 Bangladeshi citizens, dropped the sentences against them, and ordered that they be deported to Bangladesh.

The Emirati authorities continue their gross violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly of citizens and residents. After the unjust rulings that were recently issued against the UAE 84 group, which ranged from 15 years in prison to life imprisonment, an Emirati court issued sentences from 10 years in prison to life imprisonment, in addition to deportation, against a group of Bangladeshi migrant workers. They were sentenced due to their participation in a demonstration related to the political situation in their home country, Bangladesh, aimed at putting pressure on the Bangladeshi government.

On 22 July 2024, the official Emirates News Agency (WAM) published on its website details of the unjust rulings issued after a brief hearing which was held on 21 July 2024 by the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal against a number of resident workers who hold Bangladeshi nationality.

The court convicted 57 defendants on charges of gathering on 19 July 2024, and sentenced three defendants to life imprisonment for calling and inciting to demonstrate, 53 of them to 10 years in prison, and one defendant to 11 years in prison for allegedly entering the country illegally, in addition to his participation in the demonstrations.

The court also ordered all defendants to be deported after serving their sentences, and that the authorities should confiscate the devices seized from them. The trial, which was limited to one hearing, lacked the minimum international standards for a fair trial and legal procedures, and the effort by the lawyer appointed by the court to defend all of the accused was extremely weak.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) condemns the unfair trial of Bangladeshi migrant workers, and denounces all arbitrary sentences issued against them. GCHR calls on international mechanisms, including United Nations mechanisms, to immediately intervene and ensure that all of them are released and have the fabricated charges under which they were convicted overturned.

The authorities in the United Arab Emirates continue to completely deprive citizens and residents of their civil and human rights, including their right to freedom of expression and their right to peaceful assembly.