An Egyptian dissident who was extradited to the United Arab Emirates after criticizing its government on social media has been detained for more than seven months without a trial, in a case that his lawyers warn sets a dangerous precedent for transnational repression.
Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi, a poet and anti-authoritarian activist, had traveled to Syria in December to celebrate after rebels toppled the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. From there, he recorded a video expressing hope that the Middle East’s other autocratic rulers would also fall. In the video, posted online, he warned that “the shameful Arab regimes and Arab Zionists in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt” could conspire against the new Syria.
Within days, Mr. al-Qaradawi — the son of the late Islamic scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi — was arrested by Lebanese security forces as he crossed the border into Lebanon. But he was not deported to Egypt, where a prison sentence had been issued in absentia against him in 2016, on charges connected to speaking out against the Egyptian government. Or to Turkey, where he lived in political exile. Instead, Lebanese authorities sent him to the Emirates — a country more than 1,000 miles away, to which he had no connection.
Mr. al-Qaradawi’s unusual case has shed light on the long arm of the Emirates as it exerts political influence across the Middle East. A federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Persian Gulf, the country is a close U.S. ally that has translated its oil wealth into immense economic and political power.
Detained on Dec. 28, Mr. al-Qaradawi was on a flight to the Emirates by Jan. 8. His case appears to be the first in which a broad Emirati law “countering rumors and cyber crimes” was applied beyond the country’s borders.
Until August, Mr. al-Qaradawi’s family had seen him only once, during a 10-minute visit in March, and otherwise had no contact with him, nor did they know where in the Emirates he was being held, according to Rodney Dixon, a London-based lawyer who is working with the family. They were granted a second visit on Monday, several weeks after The New York Times sent the Emirati government questions about his case.
On Tuesday, Mr. Dixon filed a complaint on behalf of Mr. al-Qaradawi’s family with the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, urging the group to investigate his detention, declare it unlawful and call for his release.
“We are in a complete black hole here, where he’s disappeared,” Mr. Dixon said in an interview in July.
Home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the Emirates has attracted millions of foreign residents by offering public safety, economic comfort and relative social freedom. It is also one of the most authoritarian states in the region, with zero tolerance for criticism. Emirati laws criminalize spreading a wide variety of information online, including content that damages “the reputation, prestige or dignity of the U.A.E.”
Its leaders view their approach as a model for the future of the Middle East. And as historic Arab powerhouses such as Egypt have declined, falling into economic crisis and civil strife, the Emirates and its wealthy Gulf neighbors are increasingly using diplomacy and investments to pursue their agenda beyond their borders.
Lebanon, a country in deep economic crisis, had long been a relatively safe haven for Arab dissidents, offering greater political freedoms than other countries in the region. But while an extradition request from Egypt arrived before the Emirati request, it was the Emirati request that Lebanon responded to with “the utmost speed,” said Mohammad Sablouh, Mr. al-Qaradawi’s lawyer in Lebanon.
“Egypt is a poor Arab country that doesn’t benefit Lebanon, while the U.A.E. does,” he said.
In response to detailed questions about Mr. al-Qaradawi’s case, Lebanon’s interior ministry — which oversees internal security and law enforcement operations — said that his arrest and subsequent deportation in January were carried out under a previous caretaker government, and did not comment further.
The Emirati government, in a statement in response to questions from The Times, said that Mr. al-Qaradawi was in pretrial detention while the authorities investigate him for charges of “engaging in activities that aim to undermine public security.” The investigation is “in full compliance with legal and human rights standards, including his rights to defense, health care and communication with his lawyer and family,” the government said.
The statement went on to say that “more stringent regulations govern contact and access in cases involving state security investigations.” Emirati law allows for the extension of pretrial detention “under strict judicial oversight,” it said. The government did not respond to a query about whether such extensions could continue indefinitely.
Mr. al-Qaradawi, 54, is a father of three. His own father, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, lived in exile in Qatar for decades until his death in 2022 at 96, and was a proponent of political Islam and democratic revolutions. The elder Mr. al-Qaradawi was popular with many Muslims globally. He also had ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and had been banned from entering Britain and France.
A decade ago, as the Arab Spring revolution in Egypt faltered, the younger Mr. al-Qaradawi went into exile, too, settling in Turkey and obtaining citizenship there. He built an online audience of more than 800,000 followers on X, advocating for greater political freedoms across the region.
Mr. al-Qaradawi was a vocal supporter of the Palestinian armed group Hamas and said in a video that he posted online that he believed the group’s October 2023 attack in Israel — which killed roughly 1,200 people, mostly civilians — was a “realistic scenario for the process of liberating Palestine.” One of his last social media posts before his arrest was an elegiac poem praising Yahya Sinwar, the longtime Hamas leader who was killed last October by Israeli forces.
The Emirati ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, views political Islam as an existential threat, and his government has taken a strong stance against Islamist groups, including Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, designating the latter as a terrorist group. The government led a push for Arab countries to recognize Israel in 2020.
But the Emirati arrest warrant was not issued after Mr. al-Qaradawi’s earlier videos about Hamas but rather within days of videos he made criticizing the Emirates.
Mr. al-Qaradawi took the sharpest aim at the country in a Dec. 23 video that he captioned, “nation of conspiracies and counterrevolution,” implying that the U.A.E. was eager to interfere in Syria.
Gulf countries that are rich in fossil fuels, including the Emirates, moved quickly to invest in Syria after the collapse of the country’s dictatorship, sensing an opportunity to expand their influence. Mr. al-Qaradawi suggested in the Dec. 23 video that Emirati officials wanted to stymie the Syrian revolution.
“The Emiratis, as usual, are on the wrong side of history,” he said. Five days later, he was jailed.
On Jan. 8, a group of U.N. special rapporteurs issued a statement urging Lebanon not to send Mr. al-Qaradawi to the Emirates, warning that he could face “torture, ill-treatment or enforced disappearance” there.
The United Nations does not have the power to compel the Emirati government to release him. But Mr. Dixon hopes that if the working group publicly rules that Mr. al-Qaradawi’s detention is arbitrary, it could put pressure on the government to reconsider his case and the opacity surrounding it.
The Emirati government said in its statement to the Times that Mr. al-Qaradawi is in good health and receives regular medical examinations.
Mr. al-Qaradawi’s family, in a statement to the Times, pleaded for his return.
“Abdulrahman is one of the most courageous people we know,” the family said in the statement. “He is adored by his three young daughters and family, and every day without him brings more fear and heartbreak.”
They continued, “We urge the U.A.E. to listen to U.N. experts and the international community who’ve repeatedly made it clear this detention is a shameful violation of international law.”
What happens in the case could have implications for critics of authoritarian governments everywhere, said Mr. Sablouh, the lawyer.
“Silencing al-Qaradawi will make other people in Arab countries fear for themselves, and consequently, fear speaking out against any regime,” he said.
Rania Khaled contributed reporting from Cairo, Euan Ward and Hwaida Saad contributed reporting from Beirut and Ben Hubbard contributed reporting from Istanbul.
Vivian Nereim is the lead reporter for The Times covering the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. She is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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