Lebanon is preparing to extradite the son of the late prominent Muslim cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi to the United Arab Emirates, as announced by the Lebanese prime minister’s office on Tuesday.

On Sunday, family members of al-Qaradawi released a statement indicating that they had reached out to Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, requesting his intervention regarding the case of the Egyptian poet and writer, who also holds Turkish citizenship and resides in Istanbul with his family.

“We, as a family, place our trust in the wisdom of the Lebanese leadership and the honorable people of Lebanon,” the statement read. “Lebanon has long stood as a beacon for the defense of freedoms, and we urge the Lebanese prime minister, in the name of justice and humanity, to take immediate action to secure his release and facilitate his safe return to his family and three daughters awaiting him in Istanbul.”

Al-Qaradawi, the son of the late spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, was apprehended on December 28 following an Egyptian arrest warrant, according to a Lebanese judicial official cited by the AFP news agency and confirmed by the family. He was detained at the Masnaa border crossing after entering Lebanon from Syria.

An Egyptian court had sentenced al-Qaradawi in absentia to five years in prison on charges of “opposing the state and inciting terrorism,” the official stated.

The family noted that this ruling stemmed from an article written by al-Qaradawi in 2012 and cautioned that extraditing him to Egypt would put his life at risk.