Bahrain Mirror: Amnesty International demanded the release of a UAE national after activists on social media called on the state to free Ghanem Abdullah Mattar, who has been arrested for sympathizing with Qatar.

In a post on Twitter, Amnesty International said: "We thank all those who have alerted us to the issue of Brother Ghanem Abdullah. The issue is now followed by our team."

"If the arrest of Ghanem Mattar in UAE is because of his peaceful comment on the Qatar crisis, we deem him a prisoner of conscience, and demand his immediate release," Amnesty International said in another tweet on its Arabic Twitter page.

Activists said that Mattar was arrested after a video appeared of him saying: "Qatar has proven to us that it cannot be led ... It leads its people, but it cannot be led."

UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have warned their citizens from expressing sympathy with Qatar, saying any action of such would be criminalized and meet punishment.

Arabic Version