Abu Dhabi: A verdict will be issued on February 29 in a case involving two men charged with joining terrorist groups in Libya, the Federal Supreme Court said on Monday.

The lawyer of M.M.H. and A.R.B., both Libyans, told the court, presided over by judge Falah Al Hajeri, that the charge of joining terrorist groups was invalid, because these groups had not been branded as terrorist organisations when the February 17, 2011 uprising erupted in Libya overthrowing the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime.

“Fajr Libya or Libyan Dawn was a code name of a military operation and not a political or military group,” Ali Al Mannai told the court.

Al Manai added the defendants had dealings with these groups between 2011 and 2012, a long time before the Federal Law on Combating Terrorist Offences was issued in 2014.

The lawyer said the charges against the defendants were founded on their acts outside the UAE and there is no evidence that they are wanted by the legitimate Libyan government or the UAE for any offence committed between 2011 and 2013.

A video clip was shown at the court featuring the arrest of the accused. The footage showed confessions of the suspects that they belonged to Daesh and not Fajr Libya. “This contradicts what was mentioned in the indictment against the defendants,” Al Manai told the court.

The lawyer concluded that A.R.B. had dealings with the groups that initiated the revolution against Gaddafi. “He exported vehicles, materials and goods to these groups as part of his business he ran at a time neither the UAE nor any other country condemned these groups as terrorist. So these dealings were legal and involved no criminal offence,” the lawyer claimed.

The judge set February 29 as a date for a verdict in the case.

Meanwhile, a verdict will be issued on February 29 in a case involving an Emirati man who posted a video clip said to be insulting to the UAE, its leaders and the Emirati martyrs in Yemen.

Lawyer Salem Mahyan Al Ameri asked the defendant be cleared on all charges because he did not know what the content of the clip means. “The defendant is illiterate and does not know classical Arabic, so he did not deliberately commit anything wrong,” the lawyer told the court.

Asked why he posted the video clip, S.M.A. said he did not know what it meant but he shared it with his group on WhatsApp. He was told later the clip was insulting to the UAE, its leaders and the Emirati martyrs in Yemen, the defendant told the court, pleading not guilty.

In a third case, an Emirati, G.M.R.B., 28, charged with spying for a foreign country, had his hearing adjourned to February 15, when witnesses will give their testimonies.

Lawyers of the defendant demanded that two prosecution witnesses be cross-examined.