human rights defender
Abdullah Ibrahim Al-Helou
Actions and Campaigns
Organization affiliation
- Justice and Dignity Committee
- Society of Reform and Social Guidance (Islah Society)
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- Other
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Other
Current Status
In prison (sentenced)
HRD's bio and work
Abdullah Al-Helou is an Emirati national from Dubai. He was arrested in 2014 due to his participation in charitable activities, and was charged with operating within the Charitable Work Committee of the Al-Islah Society.
Detained since
Apr 22, 2014
Charge(s)
- Terrorism
Sentence
28 years in prison
Latitude: 23.712777744409436
Longitude: 54.942500933732
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Asia: Western Asia
Location of detention - City/Town
Abu Dhabi
Location of detention - Facility
Alrazeen prison
Allegations / reports of ill-treatment
Upon his arrest, Helou was subjected to forced disappearance and torture. He was also held without any charges and in secret detention for up to a year.
Recent case update / evolution
On 13 June 2016, Helou was sentenced to three years in prison. Even though his sentence expired on 22 April 2017, he remained detained in the Munasaha Center known as prison counseling section. On December 7, 2023, a new mass trial began before the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal, where Al-Helou was retried for new terrorism charges. On 10 July 2024, the Abu Dhabi Federal Appeals Court meted out sentences ranging from between 10 years to life in prison for 53 defendants in the UAE’s second largest unfair mass trial which is known as the UAE84 case. Al-Helou was sentenced to life in prison, which is tantamount to 25 years in prison, “for the crime of establishing, founding and managing” the Justice and Dignity Committee, allegedly “with the aim of committing terrorist acts on the country’s soil”.
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