The authorities of United Arab Emirates detained Asim Ghafoor, a US citizen and civil rights lawyer who previously served as a lawyer for the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, said the human rights group DAWN, of which Ghafoor is a member.
A senior government official from United States when asked Saturday by reporters about the detention, said the country was aware but could not say whether the president Joe Biden would raise the issue in planned bilateral talks with the UAE leader during an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia.
“I certainly think we have points about the importance of consular access and all that,” the official said, adding that “there is no indication that it has anything to do with the Khashoggi issue.”
Saudi journalist Khashoggi was killed by Saudi agents in 2018 at the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in an operation that US intelligence says the crown prince of Saudi Arabia , Mohammed bin Salman, approved. The prince denies involvement.
UAE officials did not immediately respond over the weekend to a Reuters request for comment on Ghafoor’s detention.
Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) said in a statement Friday that Ghafoor, a Virginia-based civil rights attorney, was detained July 14 at the airport in Dubai en route to Istanbul to attend a family wedding.
The organization quoted US consular officials and said he was being held in a detention center in Abu Dhabi on charges related to a conviction in absentia for money laundering, but that Ghafoor said he was not aware of any legal issues against him.
“We urge the Biden administration to secure the release of an arbitrarily detained American lawyer before agreeing to meet with UAE leader MBZ [Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed] in Jeddah,” DAWN said.
Biden said he would speak about human rights during his trip.
Human rights groups say the UAE has arrested hundreds of activists, academics and lawyers on unfair charges.
The UAE has dismissed such allegations as unfounded, and says it is committed to human rights within the country’s laws.
Source: CNN Brasil
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