The United Arab Emirates has ordered a trial for “terror-related” crimes, according to state media. 84 people are to be put on trial, “most of them are members of the terrorist organization Muslim Brotherhood”, states the state-controlled news agency Wam.
Representatives of the United Arab Emirates said on Saturday that those charged have been given access to defense lawyers, and that the State Security Court has opened witness interviews and trial proceedings.
The report of a mass trial is reminiscent of a similar trial in 2013 when 94 political activists, lawyers, students and teachers were put on trial. Even then, the accusation related to membership in the organization banned in the United Arab Emirates.
Around 70 people were then sentenced to prison terms, and some of them are now back on trial, AFP reports.
The legal proceedings were then criticized by human rights organisations. Human Rights Watch said the sentences were reprisals because the accused had tried to create an independent human rights group.