Abu Dhabi: Four men were sentenced in absentia to death for joining Daesh and fighting with the terrorist group in Syria, the Federal Supreme Court ruled on Sunday.

Abdul Aziz Saud Bin Abdul Aziz Al Najjar, 25; Moaz Abul Rahman Ebrahim Al Harithi, 22; Saud Adul Aziz Awad Al Minhali, 18; and Ahmad Ali Saif Al Naqbi, 29, all Emiratis, were found guilty of joining Daesh and fighting alongside members of the terrorist group in Syria, said the court presided over by judge Mohammad Jarrah Al Tunaiji.

According to UAE laws, defendants sentenced in absentia are granted a retrial when they appear in court.
Three other defendants — an Emirati, Abdul Rahman Hassan Al Mansouri, 22, a Mauritanian, Omar Salem Omar, 22; and a Syrian, Moawiya Ali Al Ahmad, 34, — were sentenced to 10 years in jail. Another Emirati, Faris Mohammad Salem Al Katbi, 18, and a Bahraini, Abdullah Abdul Rasool Al Ali, were sentenced to five years in jail, while another Emirati was handed three years in jail.

Al Mansouri was found guilty of providing funds to Daesh and helping four defendants reach Syria through border exits to get to Muscat airport and then travel to Turkey to reach Syria.

He also created a Twitter account under the alias Abu Nooh (@khaled992200), which he used to publish information about Daesh. He also used the handle to insult the UAE leadership.

Omar was found guilty of providing financial aid to a member of Daesh called Abu Dujana in Syria. He helped three other defendants to flee to Syria to join the group. He publicly promoted the ideology of Daesh and Al Nusra Front.

Al Ahmad was found guilty of transferring funds to two members of Daesh, where he received two instalments of Dh4,000 from Omar of Mauritania to be delivered to Abu Dujana.

Ahmad Ali Salem Al Sai’ari, 22, an Emirati, was acquitted.

In another case, three defendants — two Yemenis, Abdul Malek Ahmad Al Makhnaqi, 40, and Abdullah Mohammad Attiya, 41, and an Omani, Gulam Abdullah Al Beloushi, 49, — were sentenced to 10 years in jail for funding Yemen’s Al Houthi group and providing them with chemicals, communication equipment, among other supplies.

Al Beloushi was also ordered to be deported after serving his term and fined Dh1 million.

Three other Yemenis — Salah Salem Mohammad Mahjoub, 36, Fadel Ahmad Al Jaridi, 41, and Abdul Rahman Ahmad Mohammad Abdrabo Al Sayyad, 34, — were acquitted.

In a third case, an Emirati, M.M.A.F., 43, is charged with setting up and running a Twitter account (@lancia90), to promote the terrorist group Muslim Brotherhood, outlawed in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Prosecutors accused the defendant of insulting the UAE and its leaders.

The man was also charged with publishing lies about torture of prisoners in the UAE. He denied the charges and the court adjourned the hearing to February 28, when his lawyer will present his defence.

In another case, a defendant accused of being a member of the Al Manara terrorist group and plotting to overthrow the government and set up a Daesh-style caliphate had his hearing adjourned to February 28, to allow his lawyer to study documents of the case.