UAE: 57 Bengali workers pardoned after being detained following peaceful protests & demonstrations against their own Govt.
A court in the UAE sentenced three Bangaldeshi defendants to life imprisonment for "inciting riots in several streets across the UAE" while 53 others were jailed for 10 years and one more for 11 years. The defendants were demonstrating peacefully and in solidarity with student-led demonstrations in Bangladesh sparked by protest against government quotas on jobs.
The UAE state-run news agency said marches had “led to riots, disruption of public security, obstruction of law enforcement, and endangerment of public and private property. The police had warned the protesters, ordering them to disperse, to which they were unresponsive”.
This just shows how quick the UAE authorities are to stamp on any form of freedom of expression. Simply the idea of protest, of criticism and dissent, [is] discouraged. Migrant workers are heavily restricted from expressing themselves in any form.James Lynch, co-founder of Fair Square, which campaigns for workers' rights in the Gulf
In September, the Dhaka Tribune reported that the workers had been "pardoned" and would be returning back to Bangladesh.