Abdelrahman Al-Qaradawi is an Egyptian-Turkish citizen living and working in Turkey. He is also a well-known poet, artist and activist of Egyptian descent whose creative work reflects his thoughts, opinions and concerns about political and social issues across the Middle East and North Africa region. His art and poetry have long included expressions of criticism and concern regarding the policies and practices of the Egyptian Government, dating as far back as 2010 when he lived in Egypt and sought to foster a culture of peace, freedom and respect for all.

Al-Qaradawi is the son of the late Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who was a well-known and prominent Egyptian Islamic Scholar repeatedly targeted for his opinions and thoughts. This targeting extended to his family as well, with Human Rights Watch recognising that Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi’s family – including Al-Qaradawi and his sister and brother in-law, Ola Al-Qaradawi and Hosam Khalaf – have been subjected to a pattern of targeting of families in Egypt of activists and human rights defenders living abroad. Importantly, Human Rights Watch has called this treatment a “clear pattern of intimidation and harassment” while naming the Al-Qaradawi family as being among a group of families experiencing “acts of reprisal against their relatives.”

On December 28, 2024, al-Qaradawi was arrested and detained in Lebanon at the Masnaa border crossing by Lebanese authorities. Al-Qaradawi wasreturning from Damascus, where he spent some time to celebrate the fall of the Assad regime . At the time of his travel, the Damascus international airport was not operational and the only way to go in and out of Syria was through Beirut and the Masnaa border crossing.

His arrest was based on an arrest warrant issued by Egypt and circulated by the General Secretariat of the Arab Interior Ministers' Council (AIMC) - Criminal Investigation and Data Bureau. The arrest warrant stemmed from an in absentia ruling by the Cairo Criminal Court in 2014, which sentenced him to three years in prison for acts related to his exercise of freedom of expression, namely on charges of insulting the judiciary. This case was widely criticised as politically motivated and a violation of fair trial standards. 

A day later, another warrant was also issued by Emirati authorities and circulated by the same body of AIMC on charges of “engaging in activities that aim to stir and undermine public security”. This charge stems from a video he posted he posted while in Syria at the Umayyad Mosque, in which he criticised the human rights records of Gulf countries and expressed hope that they would face the same fate as the Assad regime. These charges were brought by the UAE, despite the fact that he is neither a national nor a resident of the UAE and has no connection to the country whatsoever.

On January 3, 2025, Lebanese media reported that the judicial report on the UAE’s extradition request had been submitted to the cabinet secretary general for review, and that a decision was expected to be issued during the cabinet session of January 7, 2025. It was also reported that the Lebanese authorities were inclined to approve the UAE’s extradition request, while the Egyptian authorities' extradition request was incomplete. On January 7, 2025, the Lebanese Government issued a decision approving the deportation of Al-Qaradawi to the UAE.

On January 8, 2025, al-Qaradawi’s lawyer appealed the deportation order before the State Council, Lebanon’s highest administrative court. Later that day, despite a pending appeal, the government proceeded with the deportation, and Al-Qaradawi was deported to the UAE. The extradition was carried out by the UAE-based airline company Royal Jet, despite receiving a letter from MENA Rights Group explaining that the airline would be playing an active role in violating article 3 of the Convention against Torture, which enshrines the principle of non-refoulement. This company was also involved in the wrongful extradition of Bahraini dissident from Serbia in 2022. The aircraft used was registered under number A6-RJA.

On  January 10, 2025, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) announced that the Emirate authorities “have taken into custody defendant Abdul Rahman Al-Qaradawi from the Lebanese authorities pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant issued against him by the General Secretariat of the Arab Interior Ministers' Council - Criminal Investigation and Data Bureau, at the request of the competent authorities in the UAE”. They added that “Abdul Rahman Al-Qaradawi faces charges of engaging in activities that aim to stir and undermine public security”.

Since then, al-Qaradawi's family and his Lebanese lawyer have received no information about his fate and whereabouts. 

On January 3, 2025, Cedar Centre for Legal Studies submitted an urgent appeal to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Special Rapporteur on Torture, requesting their immediate intervention to secure al-Qaradawi’s release, urging Lebanon to reject extradition requests, and ensuring compliance with the Convention against Torture to prevent forced repatriation to countries where he risks torture or inhumane treatment. 

On January 6, 2025, a group of independent human rights experts sent a communication to the Lebanese government. 

On January 8, 2025, OHCHR also published a press release about his case calling on the authorities to stop the extradition to the UAE citing a risk of “torture, ill-treatment or enforced disappearance if he is deported”.

On January 14, 2025, Cedar Centre for Legal Studies, MENA Rights Group and the Emirates Detainee Advocacy Center submitted an urgent appeal to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance, urging the UAE to disclose his fate and whereabouts and release him immediately.