22 Apr 2018 – 19:37
The Peninsula
The Prime Minister of Qatar attended the wedding of Abdullah Al Nuaimi on April 11, 2018. The groom personally invited the Prime Minister to his wedding. Abdullah Al Nuaimi is a government employee of Qatar, and an upstanding young man.
As background on Qatar, in an effort to have separation of power and give each defendant due process, the Emir of Qatar has no authority to unilaterally jail an individual, the first GCC country to do this. In Qatar, there is no totalitarian leveraging of the prison system to silence dissenters or rob defendants of justice. Citizens, residents, and guests in Qatar are innocent until proven guilty.
In response to some of your questions, Qatar was the only GCC country to sign an MOU in July 2017 with United States, which paves the way for the United States to share intelligence at a level needed to secure a conviction in a Qatari court. For many years, Qatar has implemented and enforced all United Nations Security Council Resolutions related to designating individuals as terrorists or supporters of terrorism. The Qatari government’s letter to the Times in July 2017 correctly describes the status of all persons who have been convicted of being or supporting terrorism. Qatar and the United Kingdom are in constant coordination regarding the status of suspected, charged, and convicted terrorists and/or supporters of terrorism, and the UK government is aware of Abdulrahman Al Nuaimi’s legal status in Qatar.
Concerning the specific judicial history of Abdulrahman Al Nuaimi in Qatar, this individual was designated as a supporter of terrorism at the United Nation Security Council in 2015. Immediately, Qatar froze all assets and imposed a travel ban on Abdulrahman Al Nuaimi. He was tried in Qatar and acquitted due to lack of evidence. Despite the acquittal, Qatar kept his assets frozen and the travel ban in place. Abdulrahman Al Nuaimi was held for eight months in jail in 2017 when the Qatari government attempted to appeal the original acquittal. After the MOU was signed in July 2017 between Qatar and the US, the United States provided Qatari prosecutors with additional intelligence. He was released in March 2018, and the Qatari prosecutors are now building a new case against Abdulrahman Al Nuaimi.
Concerning Khalad Mashal, retired member of Hamas, this individual is not personally listed as a designated terrorist or sponsor of terrorism by the United Nations, the State of Qatar, the United States, or the United Kingdom. Qatar is not aware of any existing travel bans or asset-freezing orders against Khalad Mashal.
There is no hypocrisy at work here, and the Emir’s recent statements about terrorists and supporters of terrorism has always been true and still holds true. No activity occurred which challenges the Emir’s convictions. Qatar exercises due process, and does also not believe that justice is served when children are punished for a parent’s bad act. The Prime Minister will continue to support the good work of his employees, and will not avoid a family affair because a defendant standing trial may possibly be in attendance. If Abdulrahman Al Nuaimi is convicted at his second trial, he will serve his sentence in a Qatari prison and will not be attending social events. The Emir of Qatar has not, is not, and will not tolerate terrorists or supporters of terrorism.
