Abu Dhabi: A top UAE court on Monday sentenced a woman to 10 years in jail for spying for top leaders of Hezbollah, a terrorist militia in Lebanon.

The 48-year-old woman, R.M.A, an Emirati of Lebanese descent, was found guilty of handing over classified information about top leaders, including how political and economic decisions are made at the highest authorities in the country, to two members of the intelligence wing of the Hezbollah.

The woman also provided sensitive information on the whereabouts of the VIP meetings in Abu Dhabi to the intelligence wing of Hezbollah.

The woman, who is the wife of a VIP and a TV presenter, was also convicted of putting the country’s interests and security at risk by delivering such classified information to the Iranian intelligence through agents of Hezbollah.

Prosecution witnesses testified before the court that the woman exploited her marriage to a very important person and her relationships with men and women in political circles close to the decision-making authority in the country to get secret information about meetings of senior officials.

Witnesses revealed that the accused woman communicated with the two members of the intelligence wing of Hezbollah during her visits to Lebanon.

A witness said the woman travelled directly to Beirut 32 times via UAE airports in one year and several times to Lebanon via third countries.

Another witness said that the woman smuggled millions of dollars in hard currency through the airport. She was not subjected to checks by the airport authorities because she carried a special passport.

The court also heard the woman’s husband, who said he did not know anything about any suspicious activity or espionage conducted by his wife. He told the court he got married to the defendant 22 years ago and that they had four sons. He said his wife used to travel to Lebanon because she was running a family businesses and she was carrying the money to buy real estate or to help the poor and needy in her village in southern Lebanon.

In another case, Mosab Ahmad Abdul Aziz, 27, an Egyptian, was sentenced to three years in prison to be followed by deportation for setting up and running a terrorist cell affiliated to the terrorist Brotherhood group in Egypt.

Ali Moustafa Ali Al Rikabi, 27, also Egyptian, was sentenced to six months in jail and ordered to be deported after serving his term for aiding and abetting Abdul Aziz.

Three Emiratis – Mohammad Eisa Abbas Hussain, Hassan Ahmad Shaheen and Naser Khalid Al Mansouri, were ordered to be sent to a counselling centre of the Ministry of Interior for six months for posing a potential terror threat to the country. The men were also banned from travelling for the same period.

Jalaludding Khan, 20, a Pakistani who was arrested as he had on him a cellphone with a case carrying a ‘Love Daesh’ slogan, was cleared of charges of posing a potential terror threat.

Marwan Mousa Sulaiman, 24, an Emirati, was also acquitted of the charges of posing a potential terror threat.

Ayoub Anbar Salem, an Emirati, was also cleared of charges of insulting the Federal National Council after he posted a video clip featuring insults to the House, its members and the electoral system of the country.

Salem denied the charges and told the court that the clip was shot and published by other people who deceived him.

In another case, an Emirati, M.M.S.A.,24, who is charged with joining the terrorist militia group in Syria, Ahrar Al Sham, had his hearing adjourned to September 19, to allow time for his lawyer to study the case.

The man denied the charges and asked the court to get him medically examined.

An Emirati woman, A.M.A.A., 35, charged with setting up and running social media accounts and publishing articles insulting the UAE, its leaders and its foreign policy, admitted the charges, but added she did not know how dangerous the articles she published were.

Another Emirati, H.S.K.S, 31, charged with joining the Daesh terror group in Syria, denied the charges and the court adjourned the hearing to September 26 for the defence lawyer to present his case.

Another man, J.A.J.K, charged with posing a potential terror threat and promoting terrorist ideology, had his hearing adjourned to September 5 to allow him time to present his argument.

The man denied the charges and said that he travelled to Jordan as a tourist and not for the purpose of meeting a terrorist there.