Human Rights Watch denounced the “unjust conviction” of the Bangladeshis involved, saying that the citizens of the country currently in turmoil were sentenced after a “rapid, unfair trial”.

A UAE researcher at HRW said the sentences make a “mockery of justice”.

“There is no way defendants can receive a fair trial when the investigation was launched and completed, trial commenced, and verdict rendered in less than 48 hours,” insisted Joey Shea.

The country’s state news agency, WAM, said the court session – of which there appears to have been only one for all 57 defendants – heard a witness “confirm that the defendants gathered and organised large-scale marches”.

“This led to riots, disruption of public security, obstruction of law enforcement, and endangerment of public and private property. The police had warned the protesters, ordering them to disperse, to which they were unresponsive,” the news agency claimed.

The UAE’s president said that anyone who lives in the UAE should be encouraged to uphold “principles of peaceful coexistence”.

HRW said that it verified various videos showing peaceful protesters chanting and marching down streets in cities “across the UAE” – which it claimed proved “none of the protesters were engaging in violent acts or using language to incite violence in their chants”.

The investigation was launched and completed, trial commenced, and verdict rendered in less than 48 hours

Joey Shea, Human Rights Watch

The protests on July 19 were in support of students in Bangladesh, who have been protesting for some time against a proposed policy from the country’s government that would have seen nearly a third of government jobs only going to “descendants of freedom fighters”.

Unrest began in response to the High Court decision to reinstate this quota system, reserving jobs for the families for fighters who took part in the independence war against West Pakistan in the 1970s.

However, the court did then scale back the system in what was called a “partial victory” for student protesters.

The sentiment is also driving students to want to study abroad – the “perceived unfairness drives students to seek environments where merit is the primary criterion for success”, one student leader previously told The PIE News.

According to WAM, out of those arrested in the UAE, three Bangladeshis were sentenced to life for “gathering and inciting riots”, while the 53 remaining people were sentenced to 10 years in prison; one who was reportedly in the country illegally has been sentenced to 11 years.

Bangladeshis are the third largest community of immigrants and expatriates in the UAE.

“The UAE claims to uphold principles of tolerance, peaceful coexistence and understanding, but arbitrarily detaining and sentencing peacefully protesting residents to life imprisonment indicates the appalling violation of these principles,” Shea added.