UAE jails activist for 10 years over social media posts, report says

Prominent Emirati activist Ahmed Mansoor has been sentenced to 10 years in jail and fined one million UAE dirham($349,500 Cdn) on charges of criticizing the United Arab Emirates government on social media, Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper reported late Wednesday.

A trade and tourism hub, the United Arab Emiratesis an absolute monarchy that tolerates little public criticism of its ruling system and has prosecuted Mansoor and other pro-democracy activists for what it called insulting the country's leaders.

Mansoor was among five activists convicted of those charges in 2011 amid the Arab Springprotests calling for reform in other Arab states.

Mansoor, an electrical engineer and poet, was arrested in March 2017 and accused of promoting a sectarian and hate-incitingagenda. The court cleared him of terrorist-related charges, according to The National.

Rights groups have called for Mansoor's release, calling his detention a violation of freedom of expression and opinion.

Amnesty International, on Thursday, said Mansoor wassentenced to 10 years in jail for speaking out against human rights violations in the UAE on social media and called on theauthorities to quash the sentence and release him.

"This is a violation of his right to freedom of expression!"a tweet from the international organization said.