(Bloomberg) -- A court in the United Arab Emirates convicted 57 Bangladeshis for protests against their own country’s government, sentencing three of them to life in prison.
The remainder were handed sentences of various lengths, the state-run WAM news agency reported Monday, and will be deported after serving time in jail. The UAE said the protests on Friday night disrupted public life and security.
Bangladesh has been gripped by unrest in recent weeks as student-led protests against a public-sector hiring system turned deadly. The country’s supreme court over the weekend issued a ruling removing most of the controversial hiring in an attempt to ease tensions.
A WAM report on Saturday said the UAE-based protesters deliberately disrupted traffic and transport systems, placing public and private properties at risk, and called for further unrest.
The state agency said protesters didn’t listen to calls by the local police to leave and end the demonstrations. State-run media reports didn’t specify where the protests took place.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
