The UAE government has pardoned an additional 75 expatriate Bangladeshis arrested for organizing protests in the UAE in solidarity with the student-led anti-discrimination movement in Bangladesh in July.

With the latest pardons, the UAE has so far pardoned and released a total of 188 people under a general amnesty, the Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment said in a statement today (November 29).

Earlier, on September 3, 57 Bangladeshis convicted by the UAE Federal Court for organizing protests were pardoned by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus said Bangladesh had contacted the UAE authorities requesting them to release Bangladeshis imprisoned for organizing protests. Bangladesh told the UAE that their protests were not against the UAE government, but against Bangladeshi authorities.

In accordance with the supreme directive, Chancellor Hamad Al Shamsi, Attorney General of the UAE, issued an order ending the execution of sentences and commencing deportation procedures.

The Attorney General also called on all UAE residents to respect the country’s laws, stressing that the right to express opinions is protected by the state and its legal framework, according to Gulf News.

He stressed that the state provides legal means to express one’s opinions, ensuring that this right does not translate into actions that could harm the interests of the nation and its people.

On July 22, the official Emirati news agency WAM announced that three Bangladeshi expatriates had been sentenced to life, 53 others to 10 years in prison and one to 11 years for participating in alleged protests.

The defendants had “gathered and incited riots in several streets in the UAE on Friday July 19,” WAM said, adding that they would be deported after serving their prison sentences. The charges follow a rapid investigation that was ordered Friday, according to WAM.

The United Arab Emirates, a federation of seven sheikhdoms, is populated mainly by expatriates, many of them South Asians who work as laborers.

Bangladeshis make up the third largest expatriate group in the UAE, after Pakistanis and Indians, according to the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The oil-rich Gulf state bans unauthorized protests and prohibits criticism of leaders or speech believed to create or encourage social unrest.

Defamation, as well as verbal and written insults, whether published or made privately, are punishable by law. The country’s penal code also criminalizes offending foreign states or compromising ties with them.