Abu Dhabi: The State Security Court at the Federal Supreme Court adjourned the security cases of two Emiratis to January 12.
One of the men is accused of providing intel on confidential information to Iranian officials.
The second, in a separate case, is accused of belonging to the Al Islah secret organisation.
Four defence witnesses will be called to speak at the next session. The two consecutive court sessions presided by Judge Falah Al Hajiri were held on Monday. The trial was adjourned as presiding judge Falah Al Hajiri asked for additional witnesses and arguments from prosecutors and the defence team.
The hearings started at 12pm and included exhaustive testimonies by two police officials acting as witnesses in each case. The official appearing in connection with the first case said that the defendant was working as a law enforcement officer in Dubai Police and that the accused met Iranian officials while working with the country’s consulate in Dubai after a fire broke out at the diplomatic mission.
“The defendant had asked the Vice-Consul for a health card that enables him to benefit from discounts when receiving medical treatment at the Iranian Hospital in Dubai. After that and starting from 2010, he started to head to the consulate to finish paperwork for his friend’s wife who is also of Iranian origin. That is when the defendant began to provide investigation officials at the consulate with information pertaining to the police, government officials and others working in security positions at the Dubai Police,” the witness said.
According to the testimony, the defendant obliged Iranian officials for personal gain and that the information he passed on included duties of some personnel, mobile phone numbers and licence plates.
“He was working as a link between the Dubai Officer’s Club and the Iranian Club in Dubai and even once asked for ‘wasta’ from a Shiite person to allow him entry into the Iranian Club,” he added.
The witness also stated that the defendant was treated in a very humane manner throughout the investigation and was even allowed to be updated throughout every stage of the case. He also denied any physical or psychological pressure was brought to bear on the defendant.
However, the accused told the court that he had been tortured and that investigators refused to give him access to case documents and had only asked him to sign on the papers.
In the second case, another security official testified that the defendant was a member of the Al A’kal Charity Organisation belonging to the Al Islah group, which is a part of the Muslim Brotherhood. He said that the defendant had transferred money between members of the organisation and had even travelled to Thailand to deliver Dh30,000 to Muslim Brotherhood representatives.
“During inspections, the defendant was found in possession of Dh150,000, which he collected for projects being done by the Al Islah group, which collects about Dh5 million to Dh8 million every year,” he said.
The defendant’s lawyer sought a two-week postponement to finalise his closing arguments.
