DUBAI: A security court in the United Arab Emirates acquitted on Monday two Libyan-American businessmen and a Libyan-Canadian charged with supporting Libyan militants, a lawyer and a family representative said.

“The United Arab Emirates Abu Dhabi Supreme Court State Security Chamber found American businessmen Kamal and Mohamed Eldarat not guilty, after nearly two years of arbitrary detainment and a four-month trial,” a statement from the Eldarat family said.

Kamal and son Mohamed were arrested at their home in the UAE in 2014, according to the family.

Paul Champ, a human rights lawyer representing Canadian co-defendant Salim Alaradi — who was arrested while visiting the UAE — said that although the three men had been acquitted, they had yet to be released from custody.

Mr Alaradi “was apprehended back in August 2014, held in a secret prison and the state security didn’t even acknowledge they were holding them for months, so we won’t be comfortable until he’s on a plane back home”, the lawyer said.

They were initially charged with terrorism-related offences, but the prosecutor changed the charges in March to providing support to Libyan militants and collecting donations without state permission. There was no immediate comment from the UAE on the case.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2016