Imprisoned former tournament organiser Abdullah Ibhais prevented from communicating with his wife and denied representation at appeal, according to family
The family of an imprisoned World Cup organising committee whistleblower has accused Qatari authorities of attempting to “silence” him from talking about migrant worker conditions during the tournament, Middle East Eye understands.
Abdullah Ibhais, the former deputy communications director at the 2022 Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), was arrested in November 2019 and sentenced to jail last April over allegations of bribery and misuse of funds.
Ibhais has long alleged that he is being persecuted for criticising the handling of a strike by migrant workers in Qatar in August 2019.
His family released a statement on Monday condemning Qatar’s judicial system, revealing that his most recent appeal had been rejected during a “surprise” hearing last week.
Qatar’s Court of Cassation met on 7 November to rule on an appeal filed in February, without giving Ibhais or his representatives “written and verbal notification of any kind”, according to the family.
“The hearing was held in the absence of Abdullah, the defendant, and his lawyer, and anybody or entity that represents him,” the statement said.
It added that the defence was unheard by the appeal judge, who “ruled against Abdullah in less than one minute”.
“Based on that, we… declare our complete distrust in the Qatari judicial system. These courts - to our...
The media company led by MrBeast, the YouTube megastar whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has been sued by a former employee, who alleges she was subjected to years of sexual harassment, gender b...