Five pro-democracy activists on trial in the United Arab Emirates returned to court yesterday, two days after the oil-rich Gulf nation held elections for an advisory council that wields no power.
The activists, including a blogger and an academic, were detained in April after they signed an online petition demanding constitutional changes and free elections.
They were charged in July with insulting the country's rulers and using an online
forum to conspire against the state.
Among the five, all of whom have pleaded not guilty, are blogger Ahmed Mansour and economics professor Nasser bin Ghaith, who lectured at the Abu Dhabi branch of Paris's Sorbonne university.
The five activists briefly attended yesterday's closed-door proceedings in Abu Dhabi's Federal Supreme Court.
Four of the defendants, including Mansour and bin Ghaith, walked out of the courtroom after the judges refused to consider their demand to open the hearing to the public and release them from custody on bail.
Political activity is severely restricted in the UAE, an alliance of seven semi-autonomous states, each ruled by a hereditary sheikh. There are no official opposition groups and political parties are banned.
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