Salem Abdullah Rashid Sahoo Al-Suwaidi, born in 1954, is a petroleum engineer and a graduate of the United States of America in 1977. He is a former Secretary General of the Oil Council in the Government of Sharjah, and a technical official in the Sharjah Cooperative Society.
His apprehension and trial
On April 30, 2012, the UAE security forces stormed his house, causing panic and terror to his family. They confiscated all his personal properties and arrested him without an arrest warrant. He was taken to an unknown place, where he was subjected to enforced disappearance until he appeared before court.
On July 2, 2013, the Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi sentenced 56 people, including Salem, to 10 years imprisonment with additional 3 years of probation on charges of being affiliated with a secret illegal organization. He was brought before court as a member of the “UAE 94” group.
His trial lacked all the standards of a fair trial as it witnessed many legal violations, including not considering his statements that he was subjected to torture, which violates the International Convention against Torture to which the UAE has acceded since 2012, and the denial of his right to legal representation. Also, the investigation file was ambiguous amid the absence of material evidence against Salem regarding the charges against him.
Salem is not at Al-Razeen prison, where he serves his setnece, subjected to various violations, including being placed in soliltary confinement, the denial of visits, going out to the sun, reading books, practicing religious rituals, and ugliest of which was prevention from attending his daughter’s funeral.
