Abu Dhabi: The trial of 11 individuals accused of being members of Daesh and fighting with the group in Syria began at the Federal Supreme Court here on Monday.

The suspects comprise eight Emiratis, a Bahraini, a Mauritanian and a Syrian.

All the defendants, including five who are being tried in absentia, are also facing charges of collecting funds for the organisation and handing them over to ‘Abu Dujana’ who reportedly delivered the money to Daesh.

The offenders are also believed to have set up a Twitter handle @azazyp to promote Daesh ideology.

Five of the Emirati suspects, including a 17-year-old, succeeded in joining the group and are being tried in absentia.

The other six accused were present in court and denied their charges.

O.S.O., 22, from Mauritania, is also accused of providing financial aid to a member of Daesh called Abu Dujana in Syria. It is also alleged he helped three other defendants to flee to Syria to join the group.

He is also accused of publicly promoting the Daesh ideology and Jabhat Al Nusra.

Another defendant, Emirati A.H.M., 22, is accused 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 get to 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.

Similarly, Syrian M.A.A., 34, is accused of transferring funds to two existing members of Daesh, where he received two instalments of Dh4,000 from O.S.O. to be delivered to Abu Dujana.

A.A.A., 25, from Bahrain, is accused of providing supplements and hormones to one of the defendants.

Two brothers, A.A.S., 22, and M.A.S., 24, are accused of being aware of the crime and failing to report it to the authorities.

Another defendant, A.S.N., 25, is also accused of creating and managing a Twitter account under the name id @azazyp where he promoted Daesh ideology. The defendant was not present in court.

Lawyers representing the defendants requested an adjournment to prepare their defence, as well as get witnesses.

The group will be tried in accordance with anti-terror, cyber crime and juvenile laws.

The case was adjourned to December 7.

In another case heard on Monday, an Indian Mina Zayed administrative worker, M.B., 42, was accused of disseminating confidential information to Indian Embassy officials. He is also accused of using his employer’s website to gain access to confidential information. However, his lawyer, Fayza Mousa, argued that her client could not have done so as the information was already made public by several public channels.

The case has been adjourned until December 14 when the verdict will be announced.

The prosecution accused him of providing confidential information on naval ships to the Indian embassy.

His lawyer, Fayza Mousa, had previously said in court that the defendant had verified known information, and that the information on the vessels were constantly broadcast on the news.

On Monday, Fayza provided the court with translated news articles that show the information given by her client cannot be categorised as confidential since they have been published on a public platform.

She then requested the client’s acquittal.

The verdict will be announced on December 14.