Atlanta, USA (CNN) – The US State Department has confirmed that it has no “indication” that the arrest in the UAE of the former lawyer of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Assem Ghafour, last week related to the Khashoggi case, State Department spokesman Ned Price said during a press briefing. Monday.
Ghafoor is a US citizen who was arrested at Dubai International Airport last week by UAE security services.
“We haven’t seen any indication so far that his detention is related to Jamal Khashoggi, but we are still collecting information, again, as I said previously. We have discussed the issue at a high level, and we are doing everything we can to make sure that Mr. Ghafoor is treated fairly and humanely,” Price said. ‘, as he put it.
US consular officials at the Washington embassy in Abu Dhabi visited Ghafour on July 15 and 17 of the same month, according to Paris, and embassy officials attended his “virtual hearing today,” according to the US State Department spokesman.
“We have disclosed our aspirations to our Emirati partners that Ghafoor receives consular services on an ongoing basis, that he has a fair and transparent trial process, and that he is treated humanely,” he said.
Ghafoor was sentenced to 3 years in prison by an Emirati court, the Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on Saturday.
The Abu Dhabi Money Laundering Court convicted Ghafour of committing two crimes of tax evasion and money laundering related to a tax evasion operation in his country and sentenced him to 3 years in prison, a fine of 3 million dirhams (816,748 dollars) and deportation from the state, according to Wam.