Abu Dhabi: The second session of the hearing in the case of the clandestine Egyptian-Emirati group accused of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood’s international organisation, heard the accounts of six prosecution witnesses, including the two Emirati officers at the National Security Department at the State Security Court at the Federal Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The trial was presided over by Judge Mohammad Abdul Rahman Al Tunaiji who adjourned the hearing to November 19. 

Next week’s trial will hear the Public Prosecutor’s argument, and the suspects will discuss the evidence found against them.

The group, comprising 20 Egyptians and 10 Emiratis, went on trial at around 10.15am yesterday in the same courtroom which heard the case of the 94 Emiratis who were on trial earlier this year for belonging to the Brotherhood.

The court earlier said it has concluded the investigation. The rulings of the Federal Supreme Court are final and binding.

The judge gave permission to all the accused to meet their lawyers before the next hearing. He asked the prosecution to prepare further evidence and submit it at the next hearing.

The first witness, an officer at the National Security Department, said one of the accused stole some important secret information related to state security from his flash drive. He said he was also a member of the board of Hatta Sports Club in Dubai.

In April 2012, the witness wanted to write an article about the club’s activities and needed some pictures from M.R., a 42-year old Egyptian and the third accused suspect in the case.

The witness claimed that he gave M.R. the flash drive containing the official information for only half an hour.

The officer then alleged that M.R. copied the confidential and classified information containing documents and pictures from that flash drive. The first witness explained that he only knew what happened six months later, when his office notified him that sensitive information he was handling was leaked outside.

The officer alleged that the secret information reached the Muslim Brotherhood Group in the UAE, which posted it on social networking sites.

When the judge asked the nature of the leaked information, the officer said it was “top secret”.

During the cross-examination, the lawyers of the accused alleged that the officer was negligent in dealing with such sensitive information and did not lock the flash drive with a password.

The second witness, an officer at the National Security Department, who investigated the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood Group in the UAE, said he started investigating the leaked information through social networking sites.

He was able to trace five Emirati men who belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood Group who had the same files. On questioning them, he was then led to one of the main suspects — the Egyptian man who stole the information from the flash disk.

Formation and funds

The officer said they were part of the Muslim Brotherhood branch in the UAE, which was  formed with a council that included a head and deputy head. The branch also had a general manager and two deputies, and also included various committees that covered the education sector.

The group also had six offices across the country with one in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah, and one office for Sharjah and Fujairah, while another office catered to Ajman and Umm Al Quwain.

The officer explained that during the investigation, they found that the group was collecting money through zakat and sadaqa (donations), membership fee from members and also received investment from different sources in the UAE market.

He added that 20 per cent of the funds of the Muslim Brotherhood’s cell was spent on the group in the UAE while 80 per cent went to its headquarters in Egypt.

Abu Dhabi

The 20 suspects attending Tuesday’s court session did their best to air their grievances, as two delegates from the Egyptian Consulate in Abu Dhabi and two from the American Embassy attended the hearing.

The session started at 10.15am and continued for the next five hours, with a half-hour break.

Prior to the session, some of the suspects stood up and claimed that they endured physical abuse during their interrogation, and were still not able to see their lawyers in private contrary to what the judge had ordered in last week’s session.

One of the representatives from the Egyptian Consulate then spoke to two of the Egyptian suspects over the plastic barrier, which divides the suspects from the rest of the courtroom.

The hearing was attended by 11 female and 12 male relatives, 13 journalists and seven representatives of civil society organisations. Unlike the first session, there were no foreign media present.

As the judge heard from the six witnesses presented by the Public Prosecution, the 20 Emirati and Egyptian suspects denied their statements and claimed that they were false.

Five-minute recess

Presiding Judge Mohammad Al Tunaiji allowed the accused to be heard in court, and gave them time to question the witnesses once the defence lawyers finished examining them.

After a gruelling day in court, the judge gave a five-minute recess before announcing the final order of the session. In the meantime, the suspects were all handed sandwiches and juice cartons as a snack, and spoke quietly to each other while discussing the statements of witnesses that were made earlier.