Emirati flag flutters over Dubai marina with Burj al-Arab hotel in background. (Credit: Karim Sahib/AFP)
BEIRUT — A Lebanese man detained in the United Arab Emirates has died in custody, a Lebanese diplomatic source confirmed to L'Orient-Le Jour, without giving further information on the exact date and circumstances of the death.
According to several Lebanese news sites, the man in question is Ghazi Ezzeddine, 55, father of three children. Ezzeddine, who is from Tyre, South Lebanon, died on May 4 under torture during an interrogation, two months after his arrest, the source claimed.
According to the news sites, the Emirati authorities buried Ezzeddine in the Emirates and did not let his family to receive his remains. Two of Ezzeddine's brothers were released on Thursday after his death.
L'Orient-Le Jour was not able to confirm this information. Another diplomatic source, who requested anonymity, said that the "Foreign Affairs Ministry is investigating this case," without confirming the incident or denying it.
Contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, the Lebanese consul in Dubai, Assaf Doumit, declined to comment on the incident and indicated that caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lebanon, Abdallah Bou Habib, or the ministry should provide information.
The minister and his spokesperson were not immediately available to comment
The UAE embassy in Lebanon also declined to comment on the incident, saying that it is up to the Lebanese embassy in the country to provide information on the matter.
In Sept. 2021, two Lebanese detainees in the UAE were released and permitted to return to Beirut, due to the mediation of General Abbas Ibrahim, former director of the Lebanese General Security.
Nine other Lebanese prisoners were released in February 2021.
Several Lebanese nationals residing in the UAE, mostly Shiite Muslims, were convicted in recent years for alleged links with Hezbollah, which is listed by the Emirati government and several other Gulf monarchies as a terrorist organization.