Abu Dhabi: The Federal Supreme Court on Sunday sentenced to death an Emirati who was found guilty of fighting with two terrorist organisations in Syria.
Khalfan Sultan Al Suwaidi was found guilty of fighting with Al Nusra Front and Daesh in Syria and recruiting fighters for the groups. He was sentenced in absentia.
According to the UAE laws, defendants sentenced in absentia are granted a retrial when they appear in court.
Two other Emiratis, Fares Mohammad Abdul Aziz and Mohammad Abdullah Awad, were sentenced to seven years in prison on Sunday, while Abdullah Ali Salem Al Za’abi was sentenced to three years in prison for joining the terror groups in Syria.
The court, presided over by judge Mohammad Jarrah Al Tunaiji, also sentenced Mohammad Awad Hussain Ashour, a Palestinian, to three years in jail and imposed a fine of Dh50,000 for insulting UAE’s leaders and promoting the terrorist ideology of Daesh. Ashour will be deported after serving his sentence, the court ruled.
Meanwhile, Manar T. Abbas, an Indian, was sentenced to five years in jail to be followed by deportation for spying for the Indian intelligence services. Abbas was found guilty of passing on sensitive information about movement of military vessels at Abu Dhabi ports to officers at the Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi, according to the court.
In another hearing at the Federal Supreme Court on Sunday, lawyers argued that defendants, who are alleged to be members of Al Manara terrorist group and who plotted to overthrow the government and set up a Daesh-style caliphate, be cleared of all charges.
Lawyer Ali Al Abbadi, who is defending a young man, told the court that the charges against his client were untrue and inspection warrants issued against his name were invalid.
“All procedures were made without serious investigation, information or evidence. Testimonies of witnesses are conflicting and confessions of the defendant were taken under duress,” Al Abbadi argued.
The lawyer presented to the court copies of the defendant’s passport and birth certificate, showing that he was born in 1994.
Al Abbadi said the defendant was a minor when he was arrested, demanding that he be cleared of all charges.
Asma Al Za’abi, another lawyer, made a similar defence for her client. “The arrest, inspection and investigation were based on doubts and the defendant’s confessions were taken under duress,” Al Za’abi told the court, requesting that her client be acquitted.
The court set March 6 for giving a verdict.
During earlier hearings, the court heard the suspects confessing in video footage of a plan to exploit the chaos unleashed by their acts to assassinate dignitaries.
Prosecutors pressed their case and demanded maximum punishment for the defendants.
A total of 41 suspected members — including 39 Emiratis — of the alleged terrorist organisation are facing trial at a security court in Abu Dhabi.
Prosecutors charged the suspects with setting up and running the terrorist organisation Shabab Al Manara, ‘The Minaret’s Youths’, which upholds terrorist ideology with the intent to commit terrorist acts in the UAE, endangering the country’s peace and security, besides the lives of its dignitaries and people.
The State Security Prosecution presented five types of weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, MP5 and M16 machine guns, explosives and detonators used in making bombs as well as a large quantity of bullets and other ammunition.
