United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has pardoned Egyptian-Turkish poet and opposition activist Abdul Rahman Youssef al-Qaradawi, days after an Abu Dhabi court sentenced him to 10 years in prison, according to Emirati state media.
The pardon follows al-Qaradawi’s extradition from Lebanon to the UAE in January 2025 after his arrest in December 2024 over an Emirati warrant linked to comments he made in an online video.
His release has not been confirmed, but state news agency WAM said the necessary procedures had been taken to implement the presidential pardon.
The Cybercrime Division of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal sentenced al-Qaradawi on August 27 to 10 years in prison and imposed a fine of 200,000 dirhams, equivalent to about $55,000.
The UAE had accused him of “engaging in activities that aim to stir and undermine public security”.
The presidential pardon was announced roughly a week after the sentence was handed down.
Al-Qaradawi had been detained after posting a video while visiting Syria in which he expressed critical views of the Egyptian, Emirati and Saudi authorities.
Both Egypt and the UAE sought his extradition from Lebanon, with Lebanese authorities ultimately acting on the Emirati request.
Rights groups and United Nations experts had called for al-Qaradawi’s release, arguing that his detention followed his exercise of the right to free expression.
His family had also warned in January 2025 that extraditing him to a country seeking his transfer could endanger his life.
Middle East Eye reported that al-Qaradawi remained forcibly disappeared for months following his extradition, without charges or an indictment during that period.
Al-Qaradawi is the son of the late Muslim scholar Youssef al-Qaradawi, who championed the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and was regarded as a spiritual guide to the Muslim Brotherhood.
The elder al-Qaradawi, who died in 2022, also drew criticism from authorities in Egypt and Gulf states over his Islamist preaching.
The presidential pardon now removes the 10-year custodial sentence imposed on his son, although Emirati state media did not immediately confirm whether he had left detention.