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UAE pardon for Qaradawi
The United Arab Emirates president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, pardoned Egyptian poet and dissident Abdel Rahmane al-Qaradaoui, the son of the late spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, according to state media carried by WAM.
“"A pardon was granted today... by President Mohammed bin Zayed... for Abdel Rahmane al-Qaradaoui,"”
L'Orient Today said WAM announced: "A pardon was granted today... by President Mohammed bin Zayed... for Abdel Rahmane al-Qaradaoui," and it described the case as following a conviction by Abu Dhabi's federal appeals court to 10 years in prison and a fine.
The New York Times reported that the UAE pardoned Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi "days after he was sentenced to 10 years in prison," and said the authorities did not immediately specify when he would be released.
BBC reported that the Federal Court of Abu Dhabi, Appeal Circuit/ Electronic Crimes Department, ruled on August 27, 2026 to convict him of charges and sentence him to ten years in prison and a fine of 200,000 dirhams.
Middle East Eye said the pardon came after Qaradawi was convicted by the Cybercrime Circuit of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal on 27 August, which handed him a 10-year custodial sentence and a fine of AED200,000 ($54,452).
Conviction, extradition, and detention
The New York Times said the dissident was extradited from Lebanon to the Emirates after criticizing its government, and it described the case as one that alarmed human rights experts.
Middle East Eye reported that Lebanese authorities acted on the Emirati warrant on 8 January, and it said Qaradawi remained "forcibly disappeared" for over 200 days following his extradition.
BBC said the UAE received Qaradawi from Lebanon in January 2025 based on an arrest warrant issued by the General Secretariat of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, and it quoted the UAE pursuing him for "committing acts that threaten and disrupt public security."
CNN Arabic quoted the UAE’s official statement that "Today, Friday, September 4, 2026" the president pardoned Abdelrahman Youssef al-Qaradawi, convicted on August 27, 2026 and sentenced to ten years in prison and fined 200,000 dirhams.
L'Orient Today said Qaradaoui had been arrested at the end of December in Lebanon after entering from Syria due to an Egyptian arrest warrant, and it described a January 2025 sit-in in front of the Palace of Justice urging Lebanon not to extradite him.
What the pardon changes
The New York Times said the UAE did not immediately specify when al-Qaradawi, who had been held for months without trial, would be released, and it framed the pardon as coming after scrutiny from human rights experts.
“"We were surprised by the ruling issued today, and we were informed today of the presidential pardon."”
Al Jazeera was not part of the provided sources; instead, Al-Qaradawi’s lawyer Mohamed Salibouh told Middle East Eye that "We were surprised by the ruling issued today, and we were informed today of the presidential pardon," while the report said they were awaiting his release from prison.
Al-Qaradawi’s case drew additional reactions in the reporting, with Amnesty International warning that his extradition constituted a "flagrant violation of due process guarantees" and UN human rights experts raising alarm over his continued forced disappearance.
The Emirates Lex report said the UAE announcement did not clearly reveal his fate, location, or whether he had been released, and it described the pardon as leaving questions because the agency stated only that "the “necessary procedures for implementing the presidential pardon” had been taken."
L'Orient Today and BBC both tied the pardon to the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal’s August 27 conviction and the UAE’s stated legal basis, while the reporting also noted that the case involved a video filmed at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and criticism of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.