Our ally, the United Arab Emirates believes in "democracy"

Who says one is not judged by the company one keeps?!  We do have some nice extra special friends and allies in the Middle East.  Yay for us !!  

The PR firms working for these Sunni nations(almost all of whom are either UK or USA based)  know exactly the kind of  reason to give for the arrest of the almost 100 Emiratis.  They know the Western mindset too well, so if they put out the news about  those arrested being "members of the Muslim Brotherhood"  or "had links to the Muslim Brotherhood"  ... we will accept the Sunni nations'  actions and in fact applaud them for taking those actions.  I am willing to bet that the people arrested must be either Shiites or mixed Emirati-Iranians and have been arrested for that reason alone and no other.

.... UAE activist jailed for courtroom tweet.. A court in the United Arab Emirates has sentenced an activist to 10 months in jail after he tweeted from a courtroom where his father was being tried.

Abdullah al-Hadidi's father is one of 94 people on trial for plotting the overthrow of the government.

His son was charged under a new cyber crime law that came into effect in November of last year.

Human rights activists say the law is designed to suppress dissent in the UAE, a charge the government rejects.

Abdullah al-Hadidi was arrested March 22 after tweeting details of a hearing at the federal court house in Abu Dhabi. He was subsequently charged with disseminating false information.

His lawyer is reported to have said he will appeal against the conviction.

Mr Hadidi's conviction has alarmed human rights activists who say it is a further proof that the UAE is cracking down hard on social media and other forms of protest.

Ninety-four people, including his father, were arrested last year. If convicted, they face up to 15 years in jail, with no right of appeal.

The government alleges that the 94 were part of a secret cell with links to the Muslim Brotherhood organisation.

Most of those arrested, including Mr Hadidi's father Abdelrahman belong to the conservative religious society al-Islah.....