DUBAI — An Emirati-Turkish man sentenced by the United Arab Emirates in absentia in 2013 to 15 years imprisonment has been sent to the UAE after being detained in Jordan, UAE state media said on Wednesday.

UAE state news agency WAM said Khalaf Abd al-Rahman Humaid al-Rumaithi was arrested and handed over to the UAE by Jordanian authorities.

Rumaithi had been sentenced in 2013 in absentia “on charges of establishing a secret organization affiliated with the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood that aims to oppose the foundational principles of the UAE government,” WAM said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday Rumaithi would be “at serious risk of arbitrary detention, unfair trial, and possibly torture” if he were to be extradited to the UAE.

He was one of the “UAE94,” HRW said, a group of 94 people, dozens of whom were convicted, who were tried in 2013 on charges of plotting to overthrow the government after a UAE crackdown on Islamist groups following the “Arab Spring” uprisings.

The Emirati ministry for foreign affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment on HRW’s statement.

Rumaithi will be re-tried in the UAE on the same charges according to UAE law, WAM said.

HRW said Jordan had detained Rumaithi at Amman’s international airport on May 7 when he arrived from Turkey, where he had been living in exile.

Family members and rights activists have said more than 50 members of the UAE94 are being held months and years after their jail terms have ended. (Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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