Court jails three for aiding Brotherhood

Abu Dhabi: The State Security Section at the Federal Supreme Court today (Monday) sentenced three Muslim Brotherhood members to prison terms of up to seven years.

Mahmoud Abdul Rahman Al Jidah, 52, Qatari, received a jail term of seven years to be followed by deportation while Abdul Wahid Hassan Al Badi, 32, and Saeed Abdullah Al Buraimi, 2, both Emiratis, were handed five years’ jail each, the court presided over by Chief Justice Falah Al Hajiri, ruled.

The court also ordered the confiscation of Dh150,000 seized from the house of Al Buraimi and other equipment found to have been used to fulfil the goals of the Muslim Brotherhood.

They were convicted of aiding and abetting Al Islah Orgnisation, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE, along with collecting funds to support it.

Taher Mohammad Ahmad Al Tamimi, 61, Emirati, was acquitted of the charges.

The court’s rulings are not subject to appeal.

The five-minute hearing, which started at 1.45pm, was attended by the Qatari ambassador to the UAE, Fares Al Nuaimi, 12 journalists and five representatives of the NGOs and eight of the suspects’ siblings.

The first suspect in the case, who is from Qatar, was accused of being an accessory to a banned international organisation. He was accused of cooperating and participating with the banned clandestine organisation. The organisation was suspended from normal operations because it was working against the legitimate government of the UAE, and aimed at overthrowing the government and seizing political power. The suspect’s accusations included communicating and aiding local and international leaders of the banned organisation financially and through moral support. He was additionally accused of mediating between disputing leading figures of the organisation, receiving funds and transferring the funds to members of the banned organisation who have fled and remain at large. The list of accusations included receiving funds from abroad and using the funds to sustain himself, according to the investigation records.

The second suspect was accused of receiving finds from the banned organisation and delivering the funds to the first accused, in addition to other tasks as assigned.

The third suspect was accused of attempting to recruit new members and helping the families of the already convicted members. The list includes paying lawyers’ fees and communicating with the first accused suspect through cacao social networking. The list of accusations included consulting to run the issues of the banned organisation following the capture and conviction of the leaders.

The fourth suspect was accused of running the organisation’s affairs in Dubai area and being a member of the education committee, among other tasks. Accordingly, the suspects are in violation of articles 180 and 182 of the federal laws.