Abu Dhabi: The State Security Court at the UAE Federal Supreme Court on Monday sentenced Morad Esmail Al Raisi, an Emirati, to seven years in jail for joining terrorist organisations in Syria.
The court, presided over by judge Mohammad Jarrah Al Tunaiji, also charged two people, Jasem Ali Jasem Al Hosani and Abdullah Abdul Gaffar Haji Al Beloushi, both Emiratis, with posting insulting tweets against the UAE, and ordered them to be sent to counselling centres of the Ministry of Interior.
The men will be closely watched and banned from travelling abroad for six months after promoting terrorist ideology.
The court, however, acquitted Abdullah Najib Saleh Al Yafei and Nasser Fadel Al Mansouri, both Emiratis, from charges of posting insulting tweets against the UAE and its institutions. The men were ordered to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital after medical reports proved they were mentally unstable.
Another court session
In another court session, presided over by judge Falah Al Hajeri, heard a number of cases and reviewed the medical reports of a number of defendants.
A.M.A.A., an Emirati woman, charged with setting up accounts on Twitter and Facebook to attack the UAE, had her hearing adjourned to October 31 when a ruling will be issued.
Her lawyer, Hamdan Al Zeyoudi, told the court his client had nothing to do with these social media accounts and she had never written or posted any such tweets. The lawyer added that all the equipment seized and presented to the court as evidence did not prove that the defendant had been involved in any criminal activity against the country or of a link to any terrorist organisation.
Al Zeyoudi demanded that his client be cleared of all charges.
In another case, M.M.A.A., the brother of the woman suspect, charged with fighting with Ahrar Al Sham, a terrist organisation in Syria, also had his hearing adjourned to October 31, when a ruling will be issued.
Al Zeyoudi told the court his client travelled to Syria via Turkey, when he came to know that his father was killed while he fought with Ahrar Al Sham.
The lawyer said his client went to Syria only to collect the belongings of his father and return the body for burial in the UAE.
Al Zeyoudi said that his defendant’s computers did not contain any evidence that he had been involved in any criminal or terrorist act against the UAE or any other country.
He demanded that his client be cleared of all charges.
For a case involving an Emirati, charged with joining Ahrar Al Sham, a ruling will be issued on November 14, the court heard.
The lawyer of the defendant, identified as S.H.S., an Emirati, told the court his client travelled to Syria in 2012 and joined Ahrar Al Sham when neither the UAE not any other country had branded the organisation a terrorist outfit.
“At the time, the UAE considered the organisation legitimate and fighting the Syran regime. In 2013, the defendant returned to the country and never travelled to Syria since the UAE branded the organisation as terrorist,” the lawyer told the court. He demanded that his client be cleared of all charges.
In another case, A.K.B.S., an Emirati, charged with joining the terrorist Al Islah group, an affiliate of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, had his hearing adjourned to November 28, when a ruling will be issued.
His lawyer, Al Zeyoudi, told the court his client only attended lectures and events of Al Islah group in Dubai, but he had never been a member of the group.
He demanded his client be cleared of all charges.
The court also heard three different cases involving three Emirati men charged with promoting terrorist ideology of the terrorist organisation Daesh.
The court adjourned the cases to other dates in October and November so that medical reports of the defendants could be submitted.
A.M.R.M., 47, an Emirati charged with setting up and running social media sites to promote terrorist ideology and insult Egypt and Saudi Arabia, had his hearing adjourned to November 7 for his lawyer to present his case.
