Abu Dhabi: A Syrian charged with setting up a cell affiliated to Al Nusra Front, a terrorist group fighting in Syria, was sentenced to 10 years in absentia and two others will serve three years in prison, the State Security Court ruled on Monday.
The ruling was issued by presiding Judge Falah Al Hajeri.
Omar Ahmad Ebrahim Al Dabbagh and Mustafa Abdul Ilah Al Joori will serve three years, while the 10-year sentence was issued to Osama Hussain Dagheem.
The trio was also charged with providing financial support to Al Nusra Front and Ahrar Al Sham and sending communication devices to the illegal organisations. They had also transferred money between the UAE and Jordan to be smuggled to Syria in support of the groups.
According to the UAE laws, defendants sentenced in absentia are granted a retrial when they appear in court.
Meanwhile, the court acquitted Sudanese Awad Ali Sayed from all charges against him, including setting up several pages on Facebook to promote Daesh and other terrorist organisations in addition to making comments and statements that encourage others to join Daesh and justifies its activities.
In another case, Emirati Abdullah Yousuf Juma’a was convicted of being a ‘terrorist threat’ and making statements that promote terrorist ideologies and was ordered to be sent to a counselling centre at the Ministry of Interior for six months and banned from travelling during the term.
The court heard three witnesses in the case of N.B.G. who is accused of launching and running a website on Twitter about the policies of the UAE and criticising the country’s security systems in addition to making slanderous statements about a neighbouring Arab country’s president.
Witnesses revealed a connection between the defendant and wanted suspect Emirati Hassan Ahmad Al Daqqi who had launched the illegal UAE Ummah Party.
The testimonials said that the defendant and Al Daqqi were communicating via email and were sharing studies and consultations for the Party.
According to witnesses, the defendant had made a statement on Twitter that defames the UAE’ and its leadership for setting up a place of worship for Hindus.
The case has been adjourned until September 26 for arguments to be heard.
In the case of Emirati defendant A.S.A. charged with distributing a 14 second video clip that offends the Federal National Council, its members and election process, the court heard an expert witness who gave a detailed description of the suspect’s mental and psychological state.
He said the accused is not responsible for his actions because he is uneducated, has limited cognitive abilities and is unable to process issues easily which makes him susceptible to committing acts that he does not understand the consequences of.
The case has been adjourned until June 27 when a verdict is set to be issued.
Egypt’s terrorist brotherhood
The case involving two members of Egypt’s terrorist group Brotherhood was adjourned to June 27, when a verdict is set to be issued.
Ali Mustafa Ali Rikabi, 27, and Mosab Ahmad Abdul Aziz Mohammad Ramadan, 27, both Egyptians, were charged with setting up and running a clandestine branch of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which is banned in the UAE, and raising funds and donations for the terrorist group without a licence
The men colluded with a clandestine Emirati organisation convicted of attempting to overthrow the UAE government, before it was ordered dissolved.
