Abu Dhabi: A man who took taken an oath of allegiance to Daesh and named the terrorist group’s emir in the UAE was on Monday sentenced to life in prison by a top court for terror charges, including plotting attacks on civilian and military establishments. 

The Federal Supreme Court also found Mohammad Abdul Qader Salem Al Hashemi, 34, guilty of planning to assassinate one of the country’s leaders and of making explosives.

A prosecution witness told the court, presided over by judge Mohammad Jarrah Al Tunaiji, that Al Hashemi, an Emirati, and his wife had taken an oath of allegiance to Daesh through social media.  

“The man was also named Emir of Daesh in the UAE after he took an oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, leader of the terrorist organisation,” the witness said.

Al Hashemi, the husband of an Emirati woman executed for murdering an American teacher, was been charged with joining Daesh and plotting attacks on landmarks in Abu Dhabi.

The man was charged with seven terror-related offences, including planning to bomb a shopping mall and a military site.

The defendant was married to Ala’a Bader Al Hashemi, who was executed in July last year after she was convicted of killing American schoolteacher Ibolya Ryan, 47, at a shopping mall in the capital in December 2014.

The man attempted to join Daesh in Iraq but had instead opted to work in the UAE to support the terrorist organisation. He was also found guilty of planning to assassinate a leader who was not identified in the court.

A witness told the court the man used to download videos and pictures from so-called jihadist websites affiliated to Daesh and Al Qaida.

“The man set up a website named ‘the media battalion’ to promote the terrorist ideology of these terrorist organisations and recruit young people for them,” the witness said.

The witness said the defendants’s computers showed he used speeches of Abu Baqr Al Baghdadi and Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, two leaders of the terrorist organisation Daesh, to spread the terrorist ideology among youth and recruit them to join the terrorist group,” the witness said.

The witness told the court the man met a terrorist Muslih and nicknamed Abu Majid, and handed him Dh1 million to fund Al Qaida in Yemen.

Another witness said the defendant’s computers included software to log on to sites which teach people how to make bombs, and plans to bomb a shopping mall and a military site.

The UAE authorities have enacted tougher anti-terror legislation, including harsher jail terms and even introducing the death penalty for crimes linked to religious hatred and “terrorist groups”.

In another case, the court heard lawyers of members of Yemen’s Muslim Brotherhood, who demanded that the defendants be cleared of all charges for invalid arrest, inspection and questioning.

The lawyers told the court no warrants were issued by the prosecution to arrest, inspect or question the defendants, and that there were no evidence on the charges.

They added the case documents included no tangible evidence that the defendants had set up any international, regional or local terrorist organisation, no had they transferred money to any terrorist group abroad.

The lawyers also demanded that the defendants’ confessions be considered null and void because they had given these confessions under duress.

The hearing was adjourned till May 16 for remaining lawyers to present their case..

In a third case, a man charged with insulting the Federal National Council with obscene remarks, had his hearing adjourned to May 30, when a ruling will be issued.

The Lawyer of A.S.A. told the court the defendant was  mentally challenged, according to a medical report issued by Shaikh Khalifa Medical City.

The defendant  appeared in an online video in October last year saying he would spread criminal and obscene acts if elected to the House. The video was shared on social media networks during the council’s campaigning. 

The lawyer told the court the defendant was not criminally responsible for his acts, nor good at photography and publishing of video clips.

In the fourth case, A.M., charged with terror-related offences, had his hearing adjourned to May 30, when a ruling will be issued.

The defendant’s lawyer told the court the man had not committed any terrorist act and never communicated with any terrorist group in Syria. “The defendant had just been touched by what he had seen of pictures and news about the killings and destruction in Syria. He then decided to travel to Syria via Turkey. Only a day after he arrived in Syria, he decided to return back home and he reported back to his job as normal,” the lawyer said.

The lawyer demanded that the defendant be cleared of all charges.

The court has adjourned three other hearings involving men charged with terror-related offences, to May 23 and May 30  for hearing testimonies of witnesses, medical examination of mental health of a defendant and for lawyers to present their case.