Activist Detained in the UAE

Ahmed Mansoor, a man who signed the petition to the UAE government asking for universal suffrage has reportedly been detained...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Authorities in the United Arab Emirates detained a blogger and rights activist who had said he’s gotten death threats for calling for political freedoms and an elected parliament in the Gulf nation.

Ahmed Mansour was detained Friday at his home in Dubai, his wife and a colleague told The Associated Press. Mansour’s wife, Nadia, said 10 policemen — some wearing civilian clothes — searched their house for three hours before taking her husband into custody and seizing two laptops and several documents.

“They were calm and polite, but they did not allow me to speak to my husband while they were in the house,” she said. A female officer was guarding her while others searched the house and questioned her husband. They refused to tell her where they were taking him, she said.

--more here: Washington Post: UAE detains Dubai democracy activist, blogger who called for elected parliament in Gulf nation

According to the Financial Times, Ahmed's Employer, Thuraya/Etisalat tried to double his salary and send him off to Pakistan...

"Last week, Mr Mansoor received death threats on social media sites. He was asked by his state-backed employer this week to leave the UAE and take up a position in Pakistan.

State-owned Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) requested that Mr Mansoor, who works for the satellite telecoms company Thuraya, should move to Etisalat’s Pakistan office as soon as possible.

“Thuraya have asked me to move to Pakistan on a salary worth twice as much as my current package. But I have rejected this request, as I am an employee of Thuraya, and there is no need for me to go there,” he said before his arrest.

“It’s definitely aimed to remove me from the country, and if I don’t accept I will fear I will be fired.”"

-- more here: FT.com: UAE activist detained after death threats




From Ahmed's Blog:

"The security guard of my building came to my apartment at 3:50 am few minutes ago. I could tell immediately that there is something wrong. i reluctantly opened and asked him what? he said there are three policemen waiting for you in the main entrance, i told him are you sure they are policemen? he said yes. they told me to tell to go and see them down, i told him what they need? he said they say something related to the car. i told him then send them up to my apartment. closed the door and called Dubai police immediately, and i told him the story that i was told by the guard, and i told them that i have been receiving death threats and that i can not go down like this. they told me you are right and we will send some one to check, stay home. after minutes somebody from Dubai police called me from his mobile and asked me guide him to the place, i did, he told me i will call you back.
he called me back after minutes telling that they are suspecting your car and would like to take it. i told him if they want to take the car they can do that in the morning, not 2:50 am. or they are the State Security making their old trick i further said. he said now will you come down or not? i told him if they want the car they can take it, he said what about your belongings, i said there is nothing valuable there, they can take it.
this method is well known method of the State Security because they do not have an arrest warrant, they make such tricks to bring you down and take you. i'm ready to go, but they should either do it the right way or by force.
I refused to go down from my apartment and started writing this email. not sure if they took the car or not, i will not soon know. the scenario is that if they take it, they can put whatever they like inside and make a case against me. i'm declaring here that my car is clean of unlawful material, it has a swiss style knife that put there today after receiving 6 death threats and some papers of no great importance.

Regards,
Ahmed Mansoor"

--more here: جاؤوا لاعتقالي اليوم الساعة 3:50 صباحاً They came to take me in at 3:30 am today :مواطن إماراتي مغلوب على أمره


(links found via dr_davidson on twitter)