U.S. officials reportedly rebuffed claims that the United States sought the arrest of Asim Ghafoor, who was a lawyer for slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The United Arab Emirates sentenced Ghafoor to three years behind bars Saturday for alleged money laundering and tax evasion, claiming his arrest was the result of a coordinated effort with the U.S. to “combat transnational crimes.”
But the State Department said it has “not sought the arrest of Mr. Ghafoor.”
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“We have conveyed our expectation that Mr. Ghafoor’s rights to a fair and public hearing and to fair trial guarantees be fully respected and that he be treated humanely,” a statement from the department said in response to his sentencing Saturday.
Ghafoor, a U.S. citizen and civil rights lawyer, was apprehended on July 14 while traveling at the Dubai International Airport. He had been traveling to Istanbul, Turkey, for a family wedding, according to Democracy for the Arab World Now, a group of which Ghafoor is a board member.
In addition to the three years in prison, Ghafoor was ordered to pay an $816,748 fine and face deportation from the UAE. His lawyer condemned the charges against him, claiming they were not accurate.
“I’m just hoping for a fair trial. I hope there’s no political motivation here,” his lawyer said, the outlet reported. “He had never heard anything about these charges and all of a sudden he’s put in jail.”
The detention of Ghafoor drew criticism from human rights groups, including DAWN.
“We are outraged at the unjustified detention of our board member and extremely concerned for his health and physical security given the well-documented record of abuse in the UAE, including torture and inhuman treatment,” Sarah Leah Whitson, the executive director of DAWN, said Friday, per CNN.
The Washington Examiner reached out to a State Department spokesperson for comment.
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President Joe Biden met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed during his recent visit to the Middle East. It is unclear if the pair discussed Ghafoor. Biden publicly invited the UAE president to Washington, D.C., before the end of the year.
Ghafoor was one of five prominent Muslim Americans who had their emails surveilled by the NSA and FBI in 2014, NPR reported.
