Lebanon approves extradition of Egyptian activist al-Qaradawi to UAE

Amnesty International warns that al-Qaradawi could be at risk of human rights violations if extradited to the UAE.

Lebanon’s government has decided to extradite Egyptian opposition activist Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), despite warnings that he could be subject to ill-treatment there.

The office of Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Tuesday that the country is set to extradite the son of the late Muslim Brotherhood cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi to the UAE after the cabinet voted in favour.

The 53-year-old was arrested in Lebanon on December 28, shortly after returning from Syria, where he had travelled after longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was toppled by opposition fighters.

Before his arrest, the activist recorded a video of himself at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. In the video, he said he hopes the Syrian people will emerge victorious after a tumultuous time. He also criticised the authorities of the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The UAE and Egypt have both filed requests for his extradition.

The Lebanese government’s decision on Tuesday comes hours after Amnesty International called on authorities to urgently reject the requests for extradition to both Egypt and the UAE.

“Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi’s arbitrary detention came after he made comments critical of the Emirati, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian authorities and the requests for his extradition are believed to be based on the legitimate exercise of his right to freedom of expression,” said the global rights organisation’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Sara Hashash.

“Criticising the authorities is not a crime. If returned to Egypt, Abdul Rahman al-Qaradawi would be at real risk of enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, and unfair trial leading to prolonged unjust imprisonment. He would also be at risk of arbitrary detention and other human rights violations if he is returned to the UAE.”

Hashash said that forcibly extraditing al-Qaradawi to a country where he is likely to face persecution would be a “flagrant breach of the principle of nonrefoulement under international law” and called the case a “crucial test of the Lebanese authorities’ commitment to the right to freedom of expression”.

Al-Qaradawi’s lawyer said he would file an urgent appeal to block his extradition on Wednesday morning, the Reuters news agency reported.

Al-Qaradawi is also a Turkish citizen and lives with his family in Istanbul.

The activist was a longtime critic of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and has also criticised current leader President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who came to power after a coup in 2013.

His sister, Ola Al-Qaradawi, has spent four years arbitrarily detained in Egypt on what Amnesty branded “bogus terrorism-related charges”.